


My Name is Akihito Arbatov.

by Ashida



Category: Finder no Hyouteki | Finder Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gang World, BAMFs, Blood and Torture, Chapter 6 is for you Lita!, Character Death, Colt M1911, Drug Use, Explicit Language, Guns, M/M, One Night Stands, Out of Character, Phone Sex, Russian Mafia, Sexy Dragon, Torture, Video Sex, Wildcat., fucked up finger painting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-02-10 04:46:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 115,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2011419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashida/pseuds/Ashida
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I slept with someone in Tokyo, I lost my favourite Colt 45, got bite marks on my neck and a sore ass in return.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My name is Akihito Arbatov. 
> 
> OOC everywhere!. BAMF Akihito. I don’t know jack about guns.
> 
> This one is WAY left field, but it’s been on my mind, and pissing me off. So here I am, writing it….

 

“Oi, Mikhail, how long are the negotiations going to take with that Asami dude you mentioned?”

The younger Arbatov sat in his older brother Mikhail’s 5 star hotel room in Tokyo, fiddling with his gun holders he had strapped across his chest.

His custom guns, a pair of Colt 1911 45s, were on the table in front of him.

They were a gift from Mikhail for his 23rd birthday, and his favorite weapons.

One was platinum plated, with black leather grips, tasteful engraved scrollwork highlighted the flat lines of the barrel, the other was the same design, except blackened steel with a mother of pearl grip.

The trigger on them was perfect, not too light and the sight markers were right on. The recoil was minimal and the automatic action was smooth and faultless, they were a deadly piece of art.

He cleaned them both daily, and never let them out of the same room as him.

“It depends Akihito, we won’t be walking away until we’re both happy with the terms, we could be a couple of days or a few weeks, these negotiations are important, we’ll go snowboarding or something once it’s all over.” The Russian mobster slipped on his leather jacket, over holsters with matte black Colt’s of his own cradled in them.

“You really should be coming to these negotiations, you’re my second after all, and meant to be handling Japanese affairs in a few years. You need to show your face every now and then.”

“You’ve given me enough work with South America and Britain to look after. Let me play this one time before we go back to Moscow.”  

He slipped his guns into holsters of his own and stood to put on his black bomber jacket with fur-lined hood.

“Haha. You’re gonna go play in Tokyo all by yourself? What a loser.” Mikhail teased, his eyes sparkling at his younger brothers eagerness to explore.

“Yeah, why not? I am sure I can find some drinking buddies in this giant city.” He picked his hotel key up off the table and made for the door.

“Just watch yourself Akihito, we don’t hold much influence with the police here remember, so don’t give your name out, and no speaking Russian. Japanese and English only.”

“I don’t live under a rock Mikhail.” Akihito deadpanned.

“I know, but I still see you as my cute little brother, nyah.” Mikhail poked his tongue out. Akihito hated being called cute.

“Shuddup! I’ve got enough money on me to bribe my way out of anything so take a chill pill. Flick me text when it’s done so I know you’re all good. I’ll see you in the morning…. Probably haha.”

“Yeah, yeah. Get out pest, go terrorize Tokyo with your one man mob.” Mikhail shouted after his brother, who flipped him the bird before slamming the door on his way out.

Mikhail Arbatov had to smile, though his little brother might seem aloof at times, even by the age of 23 he had proven himself capable of handling multiple countries and nationalities.

No one questioned him or his capabilities after he had shut down the Russian Rebels on the Ukraine border without Mikhail’s help, the Russian Government was in debt to the Arbatov family after that one.

All the men loved working under him, his charisma and cheeky attitude rewarded him the utmost loyalty from their subordinates. He attracted people, he had this gleam in his eye and a spring in his step that drew people into his orbit unconsciously, Feilong had been the latest person to fall trap to that on their last trip to Hong Kong, he was pestering Mikhail for his contact number constantly.

Akihito was a firecracker, a free spirited adrenaline junkie, full of life, and emotions, but at the same time he could make snap decisions and handle conflict situations with ease.

In essence, he was the perfect little brother, the perfect Arbatov, he could let him have some fun before he pushed more responsibilities like Japan on him.

 

Asami Ryuichi would be in for a surprise when he passed Japanese relations to Akihito, it wasn’t everyday you met someone like his younger brother in their business, someone who wasn’t afraid to show what they were feeling, or crack stupid jokes at an important trade. He hoped he could be there for their first meeting to see the look on the mans face.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Akihito was happy, Mikhail had given him the night off, and the young blonde was going to make the most of it.

He knew it wouldn’t be long until Mikhail handed him the reigns of a few more countries in Europe as well as Japan, he had been going on about it long enough.

He’d fit as much skydiving and base jumping in as he could before then, maybe he’d go to New Zealand for a few weeks after this, bungee jumping in Queenstown was always fun, and the sky diving in Taupo had a breath taking view of the mountain ranges, anything dangerous to get the blood pumping.

Asami Ryuichi or whatever his name was couldn’t be that hard to deal with, so he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.

In the meantime, he had to find a place to sit down and try some of this Japanese saké Mikhail kept raving on about.

He knew they were in a nice part of Tokyo, Shinjuku, there had to be a good place to drink around here.

He exited the hotel lobby and walked into the crisp air of the Japanese capital.

Soon enough, he found himself drinking with two men who called themselves Kou and Takoto, it was lucky Akihito’s Japanese was good, because they didn’t know a word of English.

They were fun, Takoto was a little serious, but Kou was hilarious, and the three of them got along really well even though Akihito was a complete stranger, he never had trouble making friends no matter what country he was in, no matter what language people spoke.

 

The quiet bar was starting to close, and at 11pm the night was only just getting started, so Akihito offered to pay for drinks elsewhere, the three men left to walk the streets of Tokyo in search of another haunt.

Akihito stopped outside of a place called Dracaena that seemed to be pumping, Kou and Takoto said they wouldn’t be able to go in, something about bullshit membership cards or whatever.

In Russia there was no club or premises the Arbatov’s weren’t allowed, and it would be the same in Japan.

The guard on the door balked at his confidence as he swaggered up the steps with Kou and Takoto behind him, he slipped the guard a fat wad of cash, and was promptly let in with his two friends, easy as that.

They found a table in one of the corners and ordered a round of shots to pick up where they had left off at the previous bar.

Within a few hours, their one table had turned into 5 other tables joining onto theirs, countless people had joined in on their drinking games, and the laughter from the blonde foreigner in the middle of it all drew more people in.

The clubs manager, Sudou Shuu had wormed his way onto the seat next to the vivacious blonde, trying to get his attention, his name, which Akihito hadn’t given anyone yet. Names weren’t needed when you were having fun.

“BANZAI!” everyone cheered before downing another shot of tequila and promptly shoving a wedge of lime in their mouths.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

“BANZAI!”

 

Asami looked to the corner of his club towards the cause of the commotion, all the local celebrities and models were gathered around a group of tables that were surrounding a table in the corner, not even in the VIP section.

He’d just finished the last of the negotiations with Mikhail Arbatov, and wanted to have a quiet drink while observing the workings of the club since he hadn’t been here in a while, but it wouldn’t be possible with the ruckus that was going on in the corner.

He quirked an eyebrow at another outburst of laugher from the group in the corner, and began to make his way over, Suoh and Kirishima in tow.

Sudou caught sight of him halfway and came to greet him before Asami made it to the group of people.

“What’s this Sudou, I wasn’t aware of an event on tonight.” Asami queried before the blonde model could get a word in.

“There isn’t, Asami sama, it’s just a gathering, I don’t even really know how it happened.” Suduo explained.

That was when Asami saw it, he saw someone shift seats, which left him an unobstructed view of a young foreigner with a dazzling white smile and sparkling hazel eyes to go with it.

The blonde man wearing a black bomber jacket had everyone fixed on him, his laughter was contagious, his attitude infectious.

People revolved around this person, that’s how it happened.

It was clear he didn’t care what people thought about him, the way the girls eyed him up, he brushed them off with practiced ease, he was dressed in jeans and a casual jacket, in a place where everyone wore suits and dresses, yet he didn’t look uncomfortable or out of place, a real diamond in a cluster of cheap glass.

Asami had never seen anyone like in his life, if there was someone like that in Tokyo, he would have known about it

“Who is he Sudou?”

“Ah that, I don’t know Asami sama. He gave the doorman enough for his yearly salary and just walked right in. He has money sir, a lot.”

So he hadn’t used a membership card, meaning Asami couldn’t just look up the name.

Asami Ryuichi very much wanted to know the young mans name.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Akihito startled as he felt his phone vibrate in his jeans pocket, he saw it was Mikhail calling, so excused himself from the group of people that he had no idea where they came from, and swiped the green button, missing the golden eyes boring down on him as he walked passed a tall man and Sudou to answer.

“Helloooo brother.” He answered in drunken english.

 _“Haha, how much have you had to drink you booze hag?”_ his older brother questioned back in the same language.

“Not enough I tell you! These Japanese are trying to drink me under the table. Whadya want huh?” he made his way to a quiet hall, now fully aware of a man following him, drunk he may be, he was still an Arbatov, he never let his guard down.

_“Negotiations were a piece of piss, we can go home tomorrow if you want or go somewhere else?”_

“New Zealaaaaaaaaand!” Akihito said with glee, recalling his earlier thoughts.

“And you will bungee jump this time you chicken shit, even if I have to throw you off that damn bridge.”

_“Ugh, I’m never going to live that down. I’ll have the jet readied for a flight to Auckland in the morning, so make sure you turn up ok runt?”_

“Yuss, sweet deal, catch you in the morning shit stain.”

 _“Be good you little shit.”_ Mikhail laughed from the other line.

“Yeah yeah, when am I anything but.” Akihito replied before finally hanging up, he turned to deal with the person he knew was following him, and collided straight into fabric concrete.

“Woah what the fuck.” He said, still in english, he hadn’t heard the man get that close, he was about to reach for his gun, but stopped in his tracks as he laid eyes on the most drop dead fucking gorgeous man he’d ever seen…… Damn son.

The very definition of tall, dark and handsome, he had predatory gold eyes, and the bangin’ body underneath that three piece suit was obvious. This man oozed danger from every pore, every inch of him reeked of restrained power, it had Akihito’s adrenaline junkie blood pumping. He _loved_ danger, he thrived in danger.

The man just stood there with an amused smirk on his face, a sexy as hell amused smirk. Maybe he didn’t speak English?

“Take a picture, it lasts longer.” He quipped in japanese as he felt the man look him up and down, he was starting to get quite hot in his bomber jacket, but taking it off wasn’t an option, what with his guns underneath, dammit.

The tall man just chuckled and ohmigod even his laughter was attractive, deep and full sounding, genuine. Fuck.

“Join us for a drink would ya?” he asked the man, in japanese again.

“Fufu, maybe a little later. What’s your name?” The man asked.

“Meh, who cares about names, my table’s the noisy as hell one if you decide to join us alright big guy.” Akihito stepped to the side and walked down the hall and into the main area once more, he would have self-combusted if he stayed any longer, he felt that hot gaze on his person the entire walk back to his table, where everyone greeted him with a cheer.

 

 

 

Asami stared after the striking young foreigner as he made his way back to the tables. What a perfect ass.

He spoke flawless English, and Asami understood every word of what he spoke on the phone.

Something about pushing someone off a bridge, and calling someone a shit stain of all things. He found himself chuckling again, indeed he had never met anyone like that in his life.

Asami knew they had eyed one another equally in the hall, and neither of them had been disappointed in what they found, the young man looked wild and untamed, up close there was something extra then just the laughs and smiles, the mans charisma was off the charts.

Asami hadn’t been this excited in a long time, he wanted to play with the shiny new toy.

He settled at the bar with Suoh and Kirishima and watched the table’s proceedings, catching the eye of the young man every now and then, not bothering to hide his intent.

The young man raised his drink to him with a brilliant straight-toothed smile, he met Asami’s gaze with equal heat, but at the same time still held the people around him in the palm of his hand.

It was unconscious on Asami’s part, but every time the group took a swig of their drinks, he found himself doing the same with the whiskey in his tumbler, the young mans attitude really was that catching.

He could watch him all night, the swish of the feathery blonde hair, those full lips take a sip from the bottle, the lines of his neck as he swallowed, the dip between his chest he could see over the v neck shirt.

Amazing… he was just amazing, it brought Asami’s predator to the fore, he wanted to pin him down, leash him. Own him, make him scream.

 

 

It was 3am, and the party poopers around him were starting to trickle away, Kou and Takoto, the best drinking buddies of the lot, were leaving, and so Akihito wasn’t keen on hanging around much longer either.

He decided he’d share a drink with the sexy dragon at the bar, well that’s what he’d dubbed him in his head anyway. He felt his spine tingle every time their eyes met, but the man still hadn’t come over.

He bid everyone goodbye, and made his way to the bar, his eyes locked with gold ones the whole walk over, his blood pumped harder with each step closer, this man was dangerous alright, Akihito was going to have fun tonight.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I am from New Zealand, so thought about putting it in one of my Fics for a change!

 

 

Thanks for the responses on the first chapter.

 

 

* * *

 

“How about that drink now?” he spoke to the man as he sat on the stool next to him.

The man called for two extra drinks in answer, and they drank the first round observing each other’s every move.

“Going to tell me your name now hmm?” the larger man queried, a playful smirk tugging at the corner of his lip.

“Na, we got this good thing going, don’t want to wreck it you know.” Akihito answered with a playful laugh, and the man smiled back.

“Oh? This good thing, what would that be?” he drawled.

“You know, this whole eye fucking business, sure you don’t want to wreck that by finding out something as menial as my name. I know I don’t.” he offered a cheeky smirk before downing the rest of his drink. He might have been a little drunk, alcohol made you honest at least.

The man’s eyes narrowed on him, he could hear his breath catch at the words ‘eye fucking’, and knew he’d hit the nail on the head. His pupils dilated back to normal, and the sexy dragon grabbed his wrist off the bar and caressed the back of his hand with his thumb in teasing, circular motions.

It was nothing short of electric, his heart had never gone this fast before, he was sure. This was much more fun then throwing yourself out of a perfectly good plane.

“No, let’s not wreck ‘this good thing’ then, perhaps we could make it better though.” He gave the wrist in his hand a squeeze, an invitation, and he leaned in closer to the stool next to him, hungry for an answer.

“Oh? And how would we make it any better then this?” Akihito asked outright.

The man smiled again, his eyes glittering, before tilting forward a bit more, placing a hand on the Akihito’s thigh, and whispering in his ear.

The man’s breath was laced lightly with whiskey and he smelt like sandalwood cologne and Dunhill’s. It was intoxicating, more so then the liquor in his hand. He was like a walking aphrodisiac.

 

Asami reveled in the smell of the foreigner, he smelt like mint, clean and fresh, cutting through the smell of beer and spirits as he leant forward, he’d had enough of the banter, as fun and refreshing as it was.

“Come back to my hotel room, and I’ll show you just how much better it can get.” He purred hotly into his ear, he loved how the blonde shuddered in response.

For a brief moment, he considered ordering everyone out of his club and jumping blondie’s bones against the bar, but Asami had a hotel room just round the corner ready for him at all times which he should make use of.

“Damn, I’m such a cheap date. Haha.”  

Taking it as a cheeky yes, Asami dismissed his two men, and strolled the short distance to his hotel with the blonde, tension built with each step, his fingers were itching to touch, his mouth wanting to taste. They kept their distance as they walked, if they touched they would surely lose control even out in the open, Asami knew once he started he wouldn’t be able to stop.

 

The moment the hotel door closed behind them, Asami pushed him hard against the wall, it was frantic, he’d never _needed_ to kiss someone this badly, never wanted to, parted lips found his halfway, kissing back, lapping at each others tongue’s with equal fervor.

This man was a live wire.

 

He pulled the man up the wall, cupping his delicious ass as the man wrapped his legs around him, grinding them together, they groaned as one at the friction.

“Shit. You don’t waste much time, do you big guy?” the young man whispered into his ear with a laugh, before sucking on his earlobe and nibbling it between his front teeth.

Asami growled his pleasure, he’d not been with anyone who was this daring with him before, people normally shied away from Asami Ryuichi.

Perhaps it was better they didn’t exchange names after all.

“I’ve been wasting time all night, watching you, as far as I’m concerned we’ve been taking it slow.”

He was rewarded with a chuckle, and pair of hands grasping onto his ass and squeezing tightly.

“Damn, what is your ass made of, it’s firm as fuck.” The man commented with another testing squeeze.

Asami laughed despite the situation, and claimed the man’s lips once more, both panting into the kiss, hot and bothered, pressing their bodies closer.

They decided that clothes needed to start coming off. Legs still wrapped around him, he carried the foreigner to the giant bed in the middle of the room and sat on the edge, leaving the blonde straddling his lap.

He brought his hands up the young mans chest, running up under his jacket, while the same was done to him.

They both stopped as one as 2 pairs of hands brushed against the cold steel of guns in each others holsters.

Both mean leant back simultaneously, eyes narrowed, bodies tensed.

It stayed like that for what seemed a long time, both men had gone on red alert.

“Hey…” the blonde said after a time, he clasped his hands together behind Asami’s neck and smiled, leaning in once more, he sucked on the raven-haired man’s bottom lip, who was still sitting tense.

“I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours.” He teased.

Just like that, the ice broke once more, and they continued where they left off.

There was something strangely erotic, and extremely intimate about peeling someone’s jacket off and exposing their holsters, and having the same thing done to you. Asami’s heart was beating wildly, the mix between danger and lust had both men losing control.

“Oh nice, a man after my own heart, Colt 1911’s.” The young man smiled as he plucked black a gun from Asami’s shoulder to look closer at it.

“Sweet piece.. Not standard issue? You’ve had it balanced.” He leant back on Asami’s legs and spun the gun around in his trigger finger, and let out and impressed whistle.

So, his livewire could handle a gun, Asami’s excitement factor increased exponentially at the fact.

“Yours is not exactly standard either.” Asami replied as he took a black Colt from the blondes holster on his left shoulder. It was a fine gun, the weapon was impeccable with its mother of pearl grip contrasting the black metal, not gaudy, just classy.

“That one is my favorite….” Akihito trailed off, not wanting to reveal more.

“Oh, is that right?” Asami grabbed the wrist holding his gun, and gave the back of the hand a hot kiss, staring into those hazel eyes.

Guns, a sexy man on his knees that knew about guns, the thrill of letting said man take off your holsters was driving him crazy, this wasn’t something he’d ever done before, and he liked it, a lot.

He knew the other man did too, they way his breathing got deeper as Asami’s other hand slid the straps off told him so.

Guns dropped to the floor, forgotten, and the spitfire pushed Asami back on the bed and devoured his mouth, much to Asami’s delighted surprise. He liked this one.

 

The pair wrestled on top of the bed, only parting mouths to breath and moan as clothes came off and skin rubbed against skin.

“Fuck… you are like a god.” Akihito announced as Asami’s six pack and muscled chest was revealed.

Eager hands explored Asami’s body, firm and insistent in their expedition, he chuckled as the young man commented on various body parts, his ‘bangin’ thighs’, his ‘hot damn arms’ his ‘smooth as hell chest and sexy neck’.

The vivacious foreigner felt the need to give a narrative on Asami’s entire body, not that he minded, it was extremely refreshing.

“I saved the most important part for last…” Akihito whispered seductively into Asami’s ear as he gripped the aching shaft, pumping it slowly.

Asami hissed at the teasing ministrations, foreplay had never been so mind-blowing.

“I have no idea how this thing is going to fit though….” Came the absentminded comment.

“I’ll be gentle.” Asami rumbled in his chest, laughing at the direct words.

“…. Who said I wanted it gentle?” the man gave his dick an extra long stroke as he spoke the words that sent Asami into madness.

 

That was it, Asami snapped, this man was fucking perfect for him.

He growled at the teasing question as he flipped their positions and forced the man roughly on his stomach.

He kissed all over his naked back, biting his way up along that slender spine, relishing the moans of pleasure filled pain that came from the body beneath him.

 

Soon enough, the man was bracing himself on the headboard of the bed as Asami slammed into him, rough and hard, the sight of the bite marks on the back in front of him adding to his pleasure, sending heat through his entire body.

“Oh, yessss… harder!” came the desperate plea.

He gladly complied with the request, and grasped the hips in a bruising grip, drawing all the way out before he rammed back into the hot flesh. Lighting traveled his spine as the foreigner’s insides stroked his hard skin, he bellowed his pleasure as he pounded in, again and again. His sadistic desires fulfilled as he lost control.

“Ah.., fuuuck… close, more!” the man cried in between heavy breaths.

The crime lord could only agree, it was damn good, the pressure building inside him promised to explode any moment.

 

He leant down to place his hands on top of the smaller ones gripping the headboard, and bit down hard on the back of blondie’s neck, all the while still grinding into that tight hole.

The pain sent the young man over the edge not for the first time that night.

“OH yessssss” the man screamed as Asami pushed in long and hard, drawing out his pleasure.

Asami threw his back and roared as he spilled into the tight ass gripping his member, he loved dishing out pain, and this man loved taking it, the fact he loved to be bitten had Asami coming hard, he groaned as he slowed, not wanting this feeling to end.

 

They had all night, so it wouldn’t end just yet, after a few minutes respite, Asami was sitting against the headboard as the foreigner straddled his hips to ride him, he was magnificent, the pink flushed cheeks, the parted lips as he moaned, the sheen of sweat on his lithe body, the emerging bruises on his hips and the love bites on his neck, it was the best thing Asami had ever seen.

 

* * *

 

 

Akihito woke early the next morning, it was still dark out, a heavy leg was thrown over his, and a strong arm wrapped around his chest and had him trapped against the thick chest at his back.

He fought back a giggle, so the sexy dragon was a cuddler. Who would have thought?

Slowly, not that he could move quickly if he tried, he extricated himself from the muscled limbs, trying hard not to wake the sleeping god.

He was just about to slip off the end of the bed, when he was yanked back by a snaking arm around his waist.

“Where are you going hmmm?” The man drawled sleepily.

“Morning.” Akihito said, running his hand along the thick chest as he turned to face the golden eyes staring at him, fully alert even though he’d just woken. He suppressed a shiver at the danger hidden behind those eyes, fuck this man was thrilling.

“Just having a shower, sorry to wake you..”

“Don’t be, it means I can join you.”

“Ha, is that right?” Akihito gave him a slow kiss, building that sexual charge between them once more, before he made his way to the bathroom, casting a teasing glance at the man staring back at him with hungry eyes.

So much better then throwing himself off a bridge, or out of a plane.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The moment the bathroom door closed, Asami found the young man’s clothing and located his cellphone, pleased it was configurated to English, he smirked as he sent himself a text message and deleted it from the mans outbox.

Now, he had the man’s contact number. He would never let a person like this get away.

The thought of playing with him more had Asami feeling like an excited school boy, though he would never compare himself to one.

 

With that done, he followed his shiny new toy into the bathroom.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Morning shower sex probably wasn’t Akihito’s best idea, it was nothing short of amazing, the guy was insatiable, and the shower took a lot longer then expected by the time they were both actually clean.

It didn’t leave him much time to dress, he had to be on the tarmac in 45 minutes, and it took 40 minutes from Shinjuku to the airport.

 

He laughed as he saw himself in the mirror while he rushed to get dressed, his hips were bruising, his neck was covered in bites and hickeys, along with his chest, and he was pretty sure his spine suffered the same fate.

It was all completely worth it, he’d never met a man like that before, someone so hungry and willing to dominate, someone so clearly dangerous. Someone so fun.

“In a hurry?” the raven haired sex machine commented as he came out with a towel around his waist. It should be illegal to look that good this early in the morning.

“Ah, yeah, I have somewhere to be, my brother will throttle me if I’m late! He left me stranded in Hong Kong with unsavory company once… he’s such a bastard.” Akihito hitched his jeans up in the dark hotel room before searching around for his guns and jacket. He found his holsters with one gun, he saw a black barrel poking out from the bottom of the bed and picked it up hastily before slinging his holster on and putting his jacket on over top.

 

“Oh, I can have arrangements made to take you somewhere?” Asami offered.

“Na, I’m all good.” Akihito didn’t really want to reveal the fact he had a private jet waiting for him at the airport, he just had to hope like hell Mikhail wouldn’t take off without him this time.

He had been stranded in Hong Kong with no passport, because there were no records of the Arbatov’s ever arriving in Hong Kong, so he had to endure a week of Feilong’s advances before Mikhail arranged his way back to Russia.

Well, being stuck here for a week wouldn’t be so bad…

His phone buzzed on the night stand, it was a text from Mikhail.

_“Hurry up you little bastard…. Did you not learn your lesson the first time? :P ”_

“Oh you wouldn’t!” Akihito exclaimed at his phone, he turned to find the man dressing, yes he should put clothes on, it was too much to bare, looking at all that muscled glory, knowing he would probably not see it again.

“I have to bounce, I’ll see ya round hey?” he flashed a cheeky grin before giving the sexy dragon a peck on the cheek and made his way out the door.

“Yes, you most definitely will.” Said Asami to the now empty room.

 

He finished dressing, and looked for his other gun that had been dropped the night before, he couldn’t find his, but he found the black one that belonged to the foreigner, his favorite one he’d said.

 

It was a nice semi automatic, perfect for everyday use and well maintained, so he wouldn’t mind holding onto it for a while. Not if it belonged to the bright hazel eyes that he knew he would be thinking about all day.

He slipped the gun in his empty holster and put his jacket on, happy with his morning’s proceedings.

 

* * *

 

 

 

By the time Akihito arrived at the airport, there was only 5 minutes to spare, traffic had been good so early in the morning, and the taxi driver had gone faster at the promise of more money.

The heat from the shower had faded, and the aches of the night before slowly settled into his bones as he strode out from the airport terminal to the jet that awaited him.

 

Mikhail was waiting at the bottom of the steps with Yuri, tapping at his watch with a cheeky smirk.

 

“Thought I was gonna have to teach you another lesson. What the hell happened to you last night! You look like you were attacked by a fucking vacuum cleaner!” Mikhail hooted at the hung over expression on his younger brothers face. Coupled with the bleary eyes and bite marks, it was nothing short of hilarious watching Akihito shuffle up to them on the tarmac.

“I was attacked… by the hottest man on earth.” Akihito admitted.

 

Yuri screwed his face up in distaste, he should have known better though, that always incited teasing from the two Arbatov brothers.

 

“Oh you got some huh? That is not like you.” Mikhail questioned with a sparkle in his eye.

“All that and more, oh, this guy I tell you, he was a freak, my ass is so damn sore right now. His cock felt so-”

“Ugh, that’s enough Akihito!” Yuri snapped.

Mikhail and Akhitito snickered their way onto the plane at the look of disgust on Yuri’s face.

“Tell me about him.” Mikhail urged once they sat down.

“Shit, he was like, out of a damn movie or something, even the shower sex was on a new level.”

Yuri glared at them, the handful of men on the plane were hiding smiles of their own as the brothers continued to wind Yuri up.

“His abs, his legs, his hands, oh his teeth….” Akihito listed off things as he turned his phone off for the flight to New Zealand.

 

Yuri had enough at this point, and growled as he got up to find a recliner further away from the two laughing brothers and their men.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Akihito switched his phone on as he stepped onto the runway at Auckland airport in New Zealand.

There were usual updates for trades and shipments that had gone through, but there was a text from an unknown number, which was odd, since his number was off the grid.

_“I believe I have something of yours. I’ll hold onto it til we meet again.”_ He knew who it was instantly, The sexy dragon. He had left his phone unattended for a short time while he showered before the man joined him.

He saved the contact as ‘Sexy Dragon’ with a smile before replying.

‘We are meeting again are we?’

Sexy Dragon: _‘You can count on it.’_

‘Catch me if you can then.’ He sniggered as he pushed send.

 

Akihito paused, wait, what did he have of his? He had everything, he checked his pockets and his wallet was there, he lifted his jacket to peer at his guns….. and found a plain black Colt 1911 instead of the matching engraved black one that made up his pair.

 

“Oh fuck!”

 

Sexy Dragon: _‘Don’t make it too easy for me, that wouldn’t be much fun.’_

 

Akihito barked a laugh at the smug reply, at least he had a reason to be caught, he needed that gun before Mikhail found out he’d lost it, didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun of his own until get got it back. Sexy Dragon really was an exciting person.

‘You know I’m all about fun :P’ He replied.

 

* * *

 

Wildcat: _‘You know I’m all about fun :P’_

Asami chuckled deep in his chest when he read the playful text, sitting in his desk at Sion, Kirishima and Suoh were both giving their boss a strange look, Asami never laughed at text messages.

 

Asami was looking forward to chasing down the foreigner, the game of nameless cat and mouse had begun, and he wanted nothing more then to catch those wild hazel eyes and make them his.

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

“Kirishima, find everything you can on this number.” Asami handed his secretary the phone with the contact number of ‘Wildcat’ displayed.

His little Wildcat was in for a surprise if he thought he could give Asami Ryuichi the run around, he would have all the young man’s information on his desk in a matter of moments, Kirishima was nothing but proficient.

When it took over half an hour for his secretary to return however, he started to grow impatient.

The fact that Kirishima returned with empty hands, no paperwork at all, had Asami leaning forward in his desk.

“Asami sama…. That number doesn’t exist.” Kirishima stood tense in front of the desk, knowing that wasn’t what Asami wanted to hear.

“Kirishima, I was messaging that number this morning.” Asami deadpanned.

“I know sir, I tried all our avenues, and still came up with nothing. That number is protected, Asami sama.”

Asami sat back in his leather office chair, well, that was unexpected.

He tapped his fingers together in thought.

Asami was vexed, he wasn’t used to information being outside his reach.

It was a new feeling for him, it meant he had to get the information he wanted from the young man himself, and if their past messages told Asami anything, it wasn’t going to be easy.

No, not something Asami Ryuichi was used to at all, his new toy was full of frustrating surprises.

He wanted to find out about every single one of those surprises.

 

* * *

 

 

 

“1, 2, 3, and jump!” The Kiwi skydiver counted down for the group of men as the side door to the small aircraft was slid open now that they were at 12,500 feet.

Akihito threw himself from the aircraft first, his right hand man Axel came after, followed by Mikhail (who loved sky diving, but not bungee jumping, for some fucked up reason) two more of their men, Vlad and Kristof, and the Kiwi named Sam came last.

The men’s whoops and hoots of excitement were lost as the air rushed passed their faces in free fall, Akihito flipped and rolled as he plummeted, relishing the feeling of weightlessness that skydiving gave him.

He only had a minute or so of free fall, and all 6 men tried to out do each other with aerial acrobatics before they needed to pull their shoots open.

In the end, they ended up racing to see who would reach terminal velocity first, all men nose-dived towards the ground, streamlining their bodies by putting their hands by their sides and turning themselves into racing missiles.

The Kiwi skydiver, Sam, won as he pulled ahead and reached his max falling speed before everyone else.

Mikhail was next, followed by Akihito, Axel, Kristov and Vlad.

The 6 men fell in that sequence at the same speed for the last 10 seconds of the free fall, soaking in the adrenaline as the air was sucked from their lungs.

Akihito flattened out at the last moment to create drag, slowing down enough that the 5 men were now beneath him, and pulled his shoot first.

He watched as other parachutes opened one by one, making sure everyone was safe before finally taking in the breath taking view of Lake Taupo and the snow capped Tongariro ranges that surrounded the giant lake.

The country of New Zealand was amazing with its endless hills and valleys of green, speckled with blue lakes and turquoise rivers. From horizon to horizon there was green, only interrupted by the city of Taupo nestled by the side of the lake.

It was their last day in NZ, they’d only been here a week, but they had to go to Hong Kong tomorrow morning, something about one of the shipments of firearms coming up short between traveling from Moscow to China through their Mongolian route. Mikhail was pissed, and wanted to sort this matter himself, and see Feilong of course.

 

The man crush his brother had going on for the feminine man was cringe worthy, especially considering Feilong gave most of his attention to the younger Arbatov. Mikhail never minded though, and Akihito didn’t care, everyone knew to keep it strictly business, affections between organizations was never a good thing.

Hell, even having affections in the first place wasn’t a good idea in their line of work.

 

Coming back from his thoughts, Akihito looked at the view as he felt his heart slow, and came down from his rush.

Akihito wanted to soak in the feeling as much as he could, holidays were rare, he unzipped pocket and took his phone out as he floated in the air.

 

He took a panorama of the view, catching the 5 parachutes of his family and friends in the photograph, before quickly putting his phone away and zipping the pocket up.

He liked to take photos like this, he liked to capture the rush, the thrill, it never lasted long enough, he always wanted more, when he found himself getting bored or restless he could go back to these photos and videos and live through the boredom.

Mikhail was only giving him all this work to keep him busy, he sighed as the earth got closer, tomorrow would be back to normal, well not completely.

He still had something to keep him occupied, he’d been texting Sexy Dragon all week, only few messages here and there, but it didn’t stop the mini rush every time his name popped up on the screen.

He’d told Axel to run the number, thinking he would have the man’s information that day, but Axel had come up with blanks, zip, nil, nada.

All information on that number was blocked.

That only made things more exciting, Akihito loved a challenge, and he could tell by the way the man was asking subtle questions that they were both playing the same game.

It was seriously fucking exciting.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Akihito got out of the shower and ready for bed, there would be no drinking or partying tonight, he quite disliked being hung over on a plane, and Mikhail’s fucking teasing never made it any better, so he was having an early one before their flight to Hong Kong tomorrow.

 

He threw his towel on the chair after drying off, threw on some camo briefs and flopped down on the luxurious bed in his hotel room.

He’d been doing crazy shit every day, all week, and he was pleasantly tired, just as he was about to doze off, his phone flashed and vibrated on the night stand next to him.

What a fucking pain, whoever it was, it had better be important to warrant keeping him up.

Grabbing the phone, he saw who it was, and not bothering to stop the smile on his face, he read the text from Sexy Dragon, it was 2am in Tokyo, what was he doing up?

Sexy Dragon: _‘Good day?’_

The texts always started off short, so Akihito decided to ramp up the conversation right away, and send him the picture he’d taken while skydiving, the one with the lake, mountain and 5 open parachutes floating beneath him. That would throw him off.

‘Epic fucking day. You’re up late.’  He pushed send, and fidgeted as he waited for a reply.

* * *

 

Asami looked at the photo message he received, taken in the air, with 5 billowing parachutes beneath him, so his Wildcat was a thrill seeker, with a lot of money, guns and a protected phone number.

What an intriguing mix.

He smirked at the line commenting on how late he was up late, and decided to play along.

‘Long day at the office. Only just got home. And you?’ he pushed send, yes, long day at the office, if that meant shooting incompetent transporters in the head and black mailing politicians, then it had been a long day.

He was pleased with a quick reply, normally the blonde took a while.

Wildcat: _‘And you messaged me straight away, no one to come home to huh?  I was just about asleep when you text.’_

Asami chuckled at the cheeky message as he sat down with his whiskey in hand, the blonde was sharp though, and they were slowly getting information out of each other.

‘Don’t worry, there is no one to be jealous of. You must be alone, if you’re messaging me.’

This was turning out to be a productive conversation.

 

* * *

 

 

Akihito snickered in bed.

“Jealous my ass. What a conceited bastard. Two can play at that game.”

He typed his clever reply.

‘No, I’m with someone actually, her name’s Mrs Palmer. You jealous?’

It was a seriously lame joke, but it would get the message across, he was alone, and horny. Thinking about that man always did strange things to him, and right now was no exception.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Well, that escalated quickly, but Asami had a feeling things would always go that way, judging by their first night at the hotel and his spitfire’s attitude.

 

Asami set his tumbler down as he read the message, the foreigner was in bed, alone and quite probably touching himself, he was horny.

And the blonde wanted him to know about it.

The thought had blood rushing to Asami’s groin, no, the Japanese crime lord wasn’t turned on over a text, and he certainly wasn’t going to carry on this farce and have text sex with the blonde…

‘You know, I’m much better company then Mrs Palmer will ever be.’ Yes he was, he pushed send.

He ignored the tightening of his pants as he waited for an answer.

Wildcat: _‘Oh, I know alright. You’re some of the best company I’ve ever had.’_

Asami growled at the reply, feeling his hard member twitch as he read the words.

‘When we meet again, I’ll make sure you won’t want any other company besides mine ever again.’ He didn’t like the thought of anyone else playing with his new toy.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Akihito’s breath hitched as he read the extremely sexy, possessive reply, bringing back memories of how dominant the man had been that night, fighting against his mouth, his body, had been the biggest fucking turn on of his life, and the text message was having the same effect.

‘How will you do that?’ he wanted to know, so badly, how the raven-haired man would make sure on his promise.

Instead of a message as a reply, his phone rung, Sexy Dragon’s name flashing across the screen.

He was Akihito fucking Arbatov, a member of the biggest organized crime family in Europe, his heart beat did not just get faster because someone was calling him.

He took a breath before answering in Japanese.

“Hello.”

 _“You want to know how, do you?”_ the voice drawled from the other end.

Yes, his heartbeat did get faster, and that dangerously low tone was exactly why.

His half-mast erection was now throbbing painfully in his briefs, so he snaked a hand under the waistband and began stroking himself to relieve the pressure.

“Yes, tell me.” He breathed.

 

* * *

 

 

Asami listened to the breathy pants from the other end of the line, and dammit if it didn’t wake his arousal full force, picturing that perfect little mouth open, and begging, it was too much, so he unbuckled his belt and freed himself from his dress slacks, giving a firm tug as the young man spoke in lilted Japanese.

_“Yes, tell me.”_

Oh, how Asami wanted to tell him, but he couldn’t begin to explain the things he wanted to do that body.

“The things I would do to you, that I _am_ going to do to you, you can’t even begin to imagine, my cute boy.”

The blonde moaned from the other end of the phone, and he could hear the steady rustle of what could only be the boy stroking himself off.

It was a seriously seductive sound, and it had Asami breathing heavy as he ran his hand up and down his own length.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Akihito didn’t bother to stifle the moan that escaped him as the man spoke words of control and domination, the sound of pure sex.

He heard the telltale sounds of a belt unbuckling, and the man’s breathing wasn’t as controlled anymore.

 

Fuck, fuck it all. This was bad, he shouldn’t want to see that man again, but he wanted it to be real, so goddam bad, over the phone wasn’t enough.

He pumped himself faster, his breathing coming out in huffs as the man continued his litany of pleasure for the ears.

 

The mans voice was so fucking erotic, low and husky and just hearing it made the hand job he was giving himself seem unreal. Everything about the man was unreal.

_“Are you touching yourself for me, you sexy fucking boy? Fucking your hand thinking of my cock in your ass? Making you scream over and over with your filthy mouth. How bad do you want me hmmm?”_

Those words, coupled with flashbacks of their night 1 week ago, rendered Akihito incoherent. He _needed_ that man, right here, right now.

 

His cock was aching at the thought, hurting with need for that man to fill him up, he quickened his pace eager to rid himself of the unbearable pressure.

“Fuck…. I wa- need it, so much.” His words came out choked between breaths, and the answering groan did funny things to his heartbeat.

 _“Need what, spell it out blondie, or I’ll never know.”_ The man’s voice was dangerously low, threatening and commanding, amazing.

“Need you, fucking me hard, filling me up, biting me… oh.. fuck, I need it, so bad.” He whined the last words, a plea for the man on the other end to do something.

The man’s breath hitched before answering, and Akihito could hear the pace the man had set himself on the other end.

_“I will give it to you, sweet boy, and much much more, I’ll mark you mine, cum so deep in your ass you’ll never be clean of me. Is that what you want?”_

“Oh, yes.. fuck yes… ahhmmmm.”

That was what Akihito needed to hear, the controlling, domineering words echoing in his head, sending him over the edge with a few more desperate pulls, frantic as he came all over his stomach and hand with an uninhibited moan.

 

While he was still in the throws of his orgasm, he heard the other man on the end let out a low growl in his own completion, and it made his high last that much longer, thinking of the man getting off on his moans.

All that could be heard for a while was heavy breathing while both men came down from their bliss.

“Dammit, now I have to have another shower.” Akihito noted as he registered his sticky hand and stomach.

Sexy Dragon chuckled on the other end.

_“Make sure you think about me in the shower too.”_

“Ha, horny bastard, no jerking off is ever going to cut it after that one. Hope you’re happy.”

_“That’s the way it should be, you should respond to me and only me.”_

“Oho, someone has control issues I see.”

 _“I don’t like other people playing with my things.”_ There was that low tone again, Akihito shivered at the words.

“If you think you can possess me, you couldn’t be more wrong if you tried.” For my name isn’t Akihito fricken Arbatov, he wanted to say.

“I’ll get my gun back and that’s the end of it.” Akihito knew it wouldn’t be, he knew a man like that always got what he wanted, Mikhail was the same, and so was Akihito to some degree.

_“You can think that all you like, but you can’t deny that want more, you screaming for me moments ago was proof of that.”_

Dammit, the man was right, this was bad, it wasn’t something he would admit though.

 

“Yeah, yeah, big words buddy. You can’t tie me down.”

The man barked a laugh.

_“Tying you down is exactly what I’ll do, and you’ll love every second of it.”_

Akihito groaned at the thought, and the two exchanged banter for the next half hour, skirting around sex and other topic, not giving anything away.

As they were about to hang up, the man asked an uncharacteristically forward question, not playing their game for once.

 _“Tell me your initials at least.”_ Well, it wasn’t exactly a question.

Akihito sighed in thought, it should be ok to give out two letters right? What the hell, Mikhail will never find out anyway.

“My initials are A. A. And yours?” Akihito said after his deliberation.

 _“Mine are  A. R.”_ the man replied simply.

“Nice, now, that’s enough personal shit for the day huh? Don’t want things to get too domestic and normal, that would just be fucking boring. I’m having a shower now.”

_“Fufu, you’re right, wouldn’t want to spoil your fun. I will find out though, sooner or later. Make sure to wash behind your ears brat.”_

“Oh! It has a sense of humor! Well fuck me sideways, who would have thought! Catch you later old man.”

 

All he got in answer was the man’s chuckling as they both hung up.

 

This was definitely bad. There wasn’t meant to be strings attached.

 

* * *

 

 

Asami hung up the phone, his chest echoing with amusement at the blonde’s last words, he was so different, so new, and so…. spicy.

Fiery, wild and rebellious.

The sound of the young man’s desperate pleading as he came had given Asami more pleasure then he anticipated, his own hand job while listening to the lewd sounds had been better than most real life intercourse he had, the boys effect on him was actually quite unfathomable.

He wanted him, and Asami Ryuichi always got what he wanted. No matter how long it took.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Akihito pushed the power button on his phone as he stepped onto the tarmac at the Hong Kong airport, checking his messages straight away, ignoring his surroundings as he read the message Sexy Dragon had sent him during his flight.

Sexy Dragon: _‘Good morning. Did you dream of me fucking you last night?’_

Akihito snorted at the arrogant text, unaware of the grin plastered across his face.

“Who is that text from that would make you smile so much, and not even greet me, Akihito.”

A very pouty Liu Feilong made to swipe the phone from Akihito’s hands, who suddenly remembered whose territory he was in now, and he yanked the phone back in time.

 

“Awww, you jealous Fei Fei?” Akihito teased, knowing he probably was, beside him, Mikhail just sighed.

 

“No, I will make you mine, everyone knows that.” Feilong said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Ha! If I had a dollar for every time I heard that lately.” Akihito muttured to himself as he followed Mikhail and Feilong to the waiting limo that would take them back to Feilong’s residence.

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BAMF Akihito indeed.

The Russian belongings were dropped off at the Baishe headquarters, and after everyone had refreshed after the long flight, the men made their way to the limo once more to go to the warehouse that had the short changed firearm shipment.

 

It was a major shipment, 2 out of the 5 trailers on the train through the mountains had arrived empty, which meant between here and there, the Russians under Mikhail had stashed them somewhere in the hills to sell for themselves, what they hadn’t counted for was for the Chinese pick up agent arriving early to find the men trying to take off and abandon the trade all together.

One of their most secure routes from Russia to China was compromised.

 

On the way to the limo, Mikhail stopped.

“You know what? You deal with this one Akihito.” Was all he said.

“What?!” Akihito stared at his big brother, this was not his territory to deal with, Akihito hadn’t been given complete control of anything in Europe yet.

The handful of men stopped, Yuri and Feilong continued onto the limo however. They knew what was going on.

“What’s the point of me being the boss if I cant give shit to you when I cant be assed doing it?” Mikhail said, a menacing twinkle in his eye.

“So, you’re just being a lazy prick?” Akihito deadpanned.

“Think of it as your daily dose of Ritalin, if I don’t give you stuff to do, you bounce off the fucking walls.” Mikhail seemed quite happy with his come back.

“…..You’re such a fuck knuckle, Mikhail.” Akihito replied.

“Shit biscuit.” Mikhail berated.

“Turd licker.”

“Maggot.”

“Douche-”

“Stop bickering children!” Feilong snapped, though you could see he was hiding a smile of his own.

 

That got everyone’s attention quick smart, Mikhail shared a communicating glance with Feilong before he went back into the mansion to ‘rest’, leaving Akihito, Yuri, Axel, Kristov, and Vlad as well as Feilong and his guard Yoh to drive them and oversee the problem at the warehouse.

 

Akihito’s demeanor changed as he walked to the limo, if Mikhail was going to let him do this, then he was going to do this, and do it well.

The thing he feared most in life, was disappointing Mikhail with work.

Partying, writing off cars and generally doing reckless shit was all well and good, it pissed Mikhail off, but he would _never_ let Mikhail down when it came to their business.

The jobs that were given to Akihito, he took seriously.

 

He had a family name to uphold, being constantly compared to the man who had united organized crime in Europe under one name meant people expected big things from the little brother.

 

 

 

* * *

  

The 7 men arrived at the warehouse to find 6 Russian men kneeling in the middle of the shadowed warehouse with their hands tied behind their backs, supervised by a handful of Feilong’s men until the bosses arrived.

Not wasting anytime with small talk, Akihito walked up to face the 6 men as the warehouse doors were rolled shut, leaving them in a poorly lit concrete cave, his shadow Axel at his side. The 6 men, expecting Mikhail, looked relieved to see the younger brother instead of the big boss.

“Talk” Akihito began in Russian.

Behind them, Yuri translated quietly for Feilong while he watched.

“What do you want me to say, little boy?” Said the much older transporter in the middle, not taking the young Arbatov seriously.

Akihito just sighed, exasperated.

“Are you really going to play this game with me? And the rest of you?” He gestured to the other men kneeling in question, and they all remained silent.

Another sigh.

“Alright then, you all had your chance.” He said as he pulled his platinum and black gun out from beneath his jacket.

“You wouldn’t even know where to point that thing, you’re still wet behind the ears.” The man snarled.

 

“Oh?” was all Akihito said before he fired a shot into the man’s thigh. The man curled over from the pain, resting his forehead against the concrete, sucking in desperate breaths as red soaked his jeans.

 

“Would you look at that? It hit.” Akihito said sarcastically, all eyes were on him now, and the transporters were starting to rethink their choice of not talking when they had the chance.

“Pull him up Axel.” Akihito said, and his burley black haired friend walked around to tug the man up by his hair.

Akihito pinned the man with his gaze, before starting over.

“Shall we try this again? I’m not as patient as my older brother you know.” Akihito announced, twirling his gun around his trigger finger.

He felt a buzz in his pocket, knowing it would be Sexy Dragon, he itched to check the message since he hadn’t messaged the man back today, but he had work to do.

“Your older brother is an idiot, we have been pilfering off the shipments for months without anyone noticing.” The man managed to huff, still not willing to talk to the young man.

Behind him, everyone that understood Russian paled at the words, holding their breath, and suddenly the warehouse felt more like a walk in freezer as tension chilled the air.

“What did you just say?” Akihito said, emotionless as he glared daggers at the man kneeling at his feet. It was obvious who was in charge now.

Akihito Arbatov, who suddenly seemed taller, bigger, meaner, 23 years old, and second in command to Mikhail himself, his big brother, who the man had just insulted It was a rule, a well followed one, you never insulted one Arbatov in front of the other.

 

The metallic scent of blood began to taint the air as the man lost more blood, which Akihito promptly stopped flowing by pushing the heel of his boot hard into the gunshot wound.

The man cried out in pain, still held up by Axel, Akihito sneered.

“I’ll forget that last part if you just tell me where my fucking guns are.” Akihito leant down, eye to eye with the Russian who was wincing in pain.

“Your faggot brother is going down, he’s a fucking fool to think he’s got control.” Came the indignant words.The men kneeling next to him all flinched as one.

The foot came off the thigh, and Akihito stayed silent as he strolled in front of the men for a few minutes, letting the nerves simmer until he stopped in front of the talkative man once more.

“Axel.” He commanded sharply, and he held his hand out for Axel to place the handle of a large hunting knife in. He looked at the curved blade, adjusting his grip before staring at the man once more whose eyes were blown with fear now, he’d taken it too far.

“You dare insult my brother in front of me? You dare betray my brother?” Akihito whispered, and to the man before him, the whisper was deafening.

The man was pale and panting, sweat lining his features as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in his attempts to swallow.

“I…I-”

“Too late to talk now.” Akihito remarked.

The man started pleading, spewing out incoherent confessions as Akihito knelt before him, knife in hand.

He plunged the knife deep into the man’s stomach, ignoring the screams that followed as Axel held onto the man’s head, forcing him to look Akihito in the eyes.

“I believe you’re the one going down.” Akihito spoke softly as he gave the blade a violent twist, the smell of organs and piss pungent as the man soiled himself in his hoarse shrieking, still held up by Axel’s strong arms.

“Don’t pass out on me now, I won’t let you get out of it that easy.”

With that, Akihito ripped the blade upwards, letting the man’s insides peek out from the hole that was torn in the man’s torso.

The man’s shrieks turned into gargles as blood came coughing up before he finally went limp, unconscious in Axel’s death grip.

“Drop him.” Akihito said as he stood up, pulling the filthy blade out with a nauseating squelch.

The dying body fell face first with a dull thud on the concrete floor, blood steadily pooling around the prone figure.

“Now. The one that talks the most, will have the privilege of dying the fastest.” Akihito announced to the 5 remaining men, who all began to spill words out over top of each other in their terror.

 

They got all the information they needed in a matter of minutes, the remaining men desperate to save themselves from the same fate as the man bleeding out on the floor.

For months, the 6 men had been gathering the Russian’s firearms in the mountains on behalf of a Mongolian syndicate leader and a Kazakhstani counterpart whose aim was to slowly cut off the routes for the Russians, leaving them isolated from China and The Middle East. Essentially cutting off half of their business.

Satisfied with all the information he needed, Akihito held his gun in his bloodied hand, and pulled the trigger 5 times, hitting each man between the eyes with a bullet.

He took an outstretched cloth from Axel and began cleaning his hands and gun, issuing an order as he did so.

“Clean this shit up. Send their picture around, let them know what happens to anyone who tries to betray my brother.”

Ignoring the text from Sexy Dragon, he dialed Mikhail’s number and relayed everything, waiting on his own orders for what to do.

_“I’ll handle the Kazakhstan border, you and Axel can handle that Mongolian Bastard after you retrieve the merchandise and take it back to China. Pass the phone to Feilong.”_

 

“It’s me.” Feilong said as he walked away with the phone.

 _“How did he do?”_ Mikhail asked expectantly.

“Just as you expected, flawless.”

Feilong was answered with silence.

“I can practically hear you grinning you know Mikhail.” Feilong deadpanned.

_“I can’t help it, he’s such an efficient little brat.”_

“He does it for you, he worships you. You should have seen him Mikhail, the man insulted you, and even I was shaken.”

 _“He’s fucking fantastic isn’t he?”_ Mikhail stated.

“He is, he’s just like you when you were younger.”

 _“Oi, if he was just like me, then how come you never paid me any attention?”_ Mikhail pouted from the other end.

“Oh shut up. Don’t get side tracked. I don’t see why you feel the need to test him like this.”

 _“I know, I know. I just need to make sure he’s ready for more…. He’s just so young and crazy, you know what he said he wanted to accomplish in life on his birthday right, he said and I quote ‘I want to party harder then the hardest party’…...”_ Mikhail trailed off, exasperated.

Feilong just laughed into the phone, musical chimes that caught everyone’s attention, so like Akihito to say something like that.

_“Seriously Fei, he thinks I don’t know what he’s like, he lost one of his guns in Japan and hasn’t told me even though I know he’ll get it back, he’s also sending lovey dovey texts to someone and trying to hide it from me. Hope I don’t have to hunt another piece of shit down and shoot their dick off.”_

“You adore him.” Said the smiling Baishe leader.

_“Of course! He was the cutest little fucking kid with his shiny eyes and straight teeth, and now look what he’s becoming. You adore him too so shut up.”_

“I don’t deny it.” Feilong teased.

 _“Ugh, seriously, as much as I like you Feilong, if you touch him I will cut your balls off. Same goes for anyone underserving.”_ Came the irked response.

“Oh protective big brother, how sexy.”

 _“Really?!”_ said Mikhail, excited.

“No.” Feilong shot straight back.

 _“Ah, don’t tease me Feilong!”_ huffed Mikhail.

“Mikhail.” Feilong began seriously, “you haven’t had to step in with South America and those Brazilians are annoying on the best days, he has the United Kingdom under his thumb like Asami has Japan. Stop worrying about him and just let him do his job as your second, he hasn’t failed you on that front so far.”  
There was an audible sigh before Mikhail replied.

_“I know, gosh you sound like Yuri. Nag nag nag. I’ve decided I’m gonna let him handle Asami next time we have a Japanese trade.”_

“You wont let him head Chinese affairs and deal with me, but you’ll let him deal with _that_ man Asami?” Feilong asked, insulted.

_“We’re on good terms with Asami, so it’ll be a nice learning curve for Akihito to deal with someone like him. It’s gonna be hella interesting haha.”_

“Oi, you done with my phone yet lover boy?” Akihito asked, who’d come out of the warehouse in search of his phone, wanting to check his messages.

“Oh yes, Mikhail, you’re going straight to the Kazakhstan border?” Feilong asked Mikhail.

_“Yup, Akihito is dealing with the other half and getting the rest of your shipment back.”_

“Very well, bye then.”

_“….See ya Fei.”_

 

As Feilong hung up, he remembered Mikhail’s words about Akihito texting someone, and instead of giving the phone back, he opened the message on the screen.

“Who is Sexy Dragon Akihito?” irritation evident in Feilong’s voice.

“Hey! Don’t read that Feilong! Give it back.” Akihito made to grab the phone, but Feilong evaded him easily.

A mischievous glint appeared in Feilong’s eye, who suddenly saw an opportunity that he didn’t get very often.

“Give me a kiss and I’ll give your phone back, fufu.”

Akihito stood with his mouth open, torn between giving the Baishe leader a peck on the lips, or letting Feilong find out his dirty little secret.

He had to do it.

If Feilong caught onto the scent of Akihito having a one-night stand with some Japanese dude, then he would never hear the end of it.

“Swear to give it back?”

“Yup.” Said a smug Feilong.

“…..Fine.”

“Haha, finally.” Victory oozed from Feilong’s tone as he stepped closer to the slightly shorter man and waited.

If Akihito could murder 6 people in cold blood, then he could just as easily give Liu Feilong a simple kiss, it shouldn’t be that hard, but things were never that simple with Feilong.

Their faces met halfway, and like lightning, Feilong gripped his hand in the blonde’s hair above his neck, pushing their mouths together, demanding entrance with his tongue.

In his surprise, Akihito gasped against Feilong’s mouth, giving him the opening he’d wanted for so long.

He explored the reluctant mouth with his until they were both out of breath before finally uncurling his hand from the back of Akihito’s head, who recoiled with a huff.

“Tricky bastard. Now my phone.” He held out his hand while he wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his other hand.

“Here.” Feilong placed the phone in the waiting hand, “that was disappointing Akihito, you’re a bad kisser.” Mockery laced his voice.

“I’ll show you a bad kiss.” Akihito said flatly before he yanked the Chinese man back into another kiss by the front of his Cheongsam.

He kissed the living day lights out of the startled Chinese, leaving him breathless and stupefied as Akihito pulled back to smirk at him.

“Haha. I win.” He gave Feilong a teasing wink before he turned and made his way back into the warehouse, checking his phone at the same time.

Thankfully the message Sexy Dragon sent didn't reveal much.

Sexy Dragon: _‘Did your parachute not open today?’_

Akihito snickered, he hadn’t had time to reply to the man at all today, and it seemed the man was getting impatient for him to reply.

‘Sorry, rough day at the office. Will be busy for the next few days.’

He pushed send before walking in the midst of his men, back in work mode, issuing orders to get their lost materials and making plans to go to Mongolia to deal with the route problem.

 

He failed to see Feilong’s guard Yoh standing at the wall by the door, who’d witnessed the entire exchange between Feilong and Akihito, and heard the entire conversation Feilong had with Mikhail.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Asami was not irritated, no, he wasn’t checking his phone more then usual either, he didn’t leave it on his desk at work so that he could see when he received a message, no, he wasn’t doing any of those things.

He hadn’t had many messages from Wildcat since they’d first spoken on the phone, the young man claimed he was busy with work and didn’t have much time, which wasn’t good enough for Asami.

He was used to people coming crawling back to him, either for his money or his looks, most of the time both.

Little Wildcat however, didn’t seem to give two shits.

It was pretty clear to Asami that he’d found something quite interesting, and he was eager to find out about Wildcats profession that would keep him from replying for over half a day at a time.

 

Kirishima entered his office with a small amount of paperwork in his hand.

“Asami sama, we’ve had some word from Yoh with intel on Mikhail and his new second, his younger brother.”

“So, another cheeky Arbatov to deal with. I thought he was young still?”

“He’s quite accomplished apparently, even Yoh was impressed. He’s 23 sir.” Kirishima reported.

“23, still a greenhorn, I’d eat him for breakfast. I’ll look at the information later.” He waved the paperwork away, uninterested, he missed seeing the label with the initials A.A at the top.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikhail cock blocks us all.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Finally, after a week in Mongolia and an extra day dropping the goods to Feilong, Akihito arrived back at the family estate in Moscow, gave Mikhail the summary reports, sorted the most urgent problems and at long last, flopped down on his own bed for the first time in over a month.

It was rarely slept in, he did a lot of travel on behalf of Mikhail, but it was still his bed, and he was doggone tired, and pretty sure he would reek of blood for the next week, even if he dipped himself in bleach.

Mongolians were absolute shitheads to deal with, how his brother got the country under his control in the first place showed exactly why he was the lord of Europe.

Personally, Akihito would rather roll in glass and gargle piss then deal with the seedy Syndicate leader again, and luckily he wouldn’t have to, he’d killed him and his top men and appointed another local group to fill the gap.

The new group was well aware of what would happen to them if they even so much as thought about rising up against Mikhail.

Akihito had sent a clear message that even though he was young, he was still perfectly capable, and he took betrayal and double-crossing very seriously.

 

What took Akihito and Axel 7 days to clear up in Mongolia took Mikhail and Yuri 4 in Kazakhstan, which was to be expected, he was Mikhail Arbatov after all, the big boss, things generally got done a lot faster when the man himself showed up.

Once people all over began to take Akihito seriously it would get easier, he knew, some shit Mikhail spouted about his right of passage blah blah blah. It still didn’t help to piss him off any less though.

He was showing people one country at a time exactly why Mikhail was giving him so much responsibility.

Responsibility that had built up after a week in Mongolia, he had quite a backlog of work to get through, which meant straight back into it tomorrow.

Well, there ain’t no rest for the wicked, though it was only 7pm so he could sleep for 12 hours and wake up feeling less murderous.

In the meantime, his phone was going on silent. If it was urgent they would get a hold of Axel or Yuri, who would come wake him.

That was the good thing about most of the command chain living in one place, and the mansion was big enough that everyone had their own living quarters anyway, so it didn’t feel like living with them really.

Just as his hand touched his phone, it fucking rung, that’s right, the piece of shit technology decided then and there that Akihito Arbatov didn’t need any rest, and it _fucking rung!_ He wanted to castrate the muppet who was calling him before he managed to set his phone on silent, if it was _anything_ to do with Mongolia, he would just nuke the fucking country instead.

Checking the screen to see whose name he would yell before he answered, revealed it was Sexy Dragon calling, so he tried to calm down as much as possible before answering, though it was a massive fail.

“What?” he asked in Japanese, he didn’t do a good job of calming down at all, fucking Mongolians had taken the last of his patience.

“Ugh, sorry, it’s been a shit storm of a week, I think the clouds took laxatives just to spite me. I’m no good to talk to right now.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Asami sat in his recliner at the penthouse, and stared at the phone for a few seconds, wondering what to do.

The short text messages nearly days apart for an entire week left Asami frustrated, how was he to find anything out about Wildcat if he wasn’t texting back?

He’d asked Kirishima to run the number again, trace it by all means necessary, but still come up with nothing.

The foreigner had a seriously high level block on his phone number.

So Asami’s impatience and curiosity got the better of him, he’d finished negotiations early with a local distributor and after settling in his recliner at home, called his Wildcat, only to be met with a hissy kitten.

He found he didn’t much like hearing the tired tone in the foreigners voice, he’d much rather prefer to be greeted with the cheeky remark he was expecting.

However he didn’t want to just hang up after a weeks worth of waiting, now that he had blondie on the line he wasn’t letting him go that easy, so he would just have to fix the boy’s shitty mood, somehow.

“Everything alright?”

 _“Did you really just ask me that? You- oh, I’m too tired to think of a come back even.”_ came the flat reply.

No, he didn’t like hearing his Wildcat like this at all, and he was going to get to the bottom of the issue.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” It wasn’t a question, he sat back in his recliner with whiskey in hand, waiting to hear what had his Wildcat so weary.

_“Oi, if this is your awkward attempt at feelings and shit, then just fucking facetime me, maybe seeing your perfect mug will make me feel better. I’m too tired to hold the phone to my ear.”_

Well, it wasn’t something Asami was expecting, but he couldn’t say he didn’t want to see those eyes and that fire again either.

“Eager are we? Alright then, I’m connecting the call now.” Asami announced.

_“Sweet.”_

Asami rested the hand holding his phone on the arm of the recliner and waited as the connection became clear, as the pixels sharpened to reveal a very worn-out looking Wildcat sitting against the headboard of a bed.

He looked presentable enough, he had a collared shirt on, unbuttoned down to his chest with his holsters strapped over his shoulders, his hair was ruffled and wild like when they first met and, wait, was that blood on his shirt? No, couldn’t be. It wasn’t clear enough to make out.

Everything was pretty much the same, apart from one thing, one thing that made the hairs on Asami’s neck stand on end.

His eyes, they were sharp, on edge and alert, but dull and lacked the shine he remembered all at the same time, his eyes were smoldering with tired fury. Who was this person really, that looked ready despite being exhausted?

Now more then ever, he wanted to know more, he wanted to know it all, so that he could find the people who made Wildcat have such eyes and eliminate them all. No one tampered with what was his.

The blonde pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes for a few seconds, before letting out a deep breath and looking at the camera again, looking more like the Wildcat he met 2 weeks ago.

_“Shit, you really are a sight for sore eyes, you know that?”_

 

 

* * *

 

 

This was bad, really bad, there were more strings attaching themselves, and this video call was why. He was bone weary, but he hadn’t actually expected that seeing Sexy Dragon would make him feel better.

Seeing his straight jawline and those dangerous eyes, with that perfectly slicked hair and that neck that led down to the man’s powerful chest, which was covered by an impeccable 3-piece suit.

It was like a spa for his eyeballs, after seeing blood and bodies for the past week, looking at this man was like rinsing his eyes in rainbows and cotton candy. Fuck.

_“Fufu, I’m glad I could be of some help. So, going to tell me what’s going on hmm?”_

Akihito took another deep breath, venting a little bit wouldn’t be so bad would it?

“It’s no biggie, just had to deal with a bunch of knob jockeys with shit for brains that don’t know their place.” he admitted nonchalantly.

The golden eyes twinkled with amusement, and Akihito could feel his mood lifting even more, yup, this was bad.

 _“And how did you deal with these ‘knob jockeys’ huh?”_ the man chuckled.

“Ha, wouldn’t you like to know.” How he’d gutted the leader and strung him up in front of his subordinates was not exactly something he could tell Sexy Dragon, even though a part of him knew Sexy Dragon was probably capable of the same thing. They both didn’t carry weapons for nothing….

_“I would like to know what kept you from me for a whole week, yes.”_

“You miss me or somethin’? Is that why you called?” Akihito teased, his dark mood dissipating.

 

* * *

 

There it was, the teasing shiny-eyed foreigner he remembered, Asami was pleased with himself for being able to placate the younger man’s mood, though his questions had somehow disappeared to the background at the same time.

“I just didn’t want you thinking you could get away that easy.” Asami declared.

 _“Haha, newsflash buddy, you can’t catch me.”_ Even over the camera connection on the small screen of his phone, Asami could see the playful fire dance in those hazel eyes.

“Oh, you don’t want to be caught?” Asami queried.

 _“…..I never said that.”_ And those eyes took on a whole new look, this boy wanted to be caught, Asami needed to catch him, but the boy was right, he actually couldn’t.

Not with the little information he had to go by, and the boy knew it too, he knew Asami wouldn’t be able to find anything on him, the cheeky little shit.

Asami growled unconsciously, and the boy threw his head back and laughed, a genuine laugh, the very laugh that drew people to him, perfect teeth and bright eyes, to which Asami growled more, for a different reason.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Akihito really couldn’t help but laugh, he could guess what was happening, he’d had Sexy Dragon’s number checked and come up with nothing, which didn’t bother him too much, but he would bet money that the man had resources to check his number too, and had come up with nothing.

No matter who looked for his number, they wouldn’t come up with anything. Ever.

The menacing eyes and low growl told him so, and my god it reminded him why he’d been drawn to Sexy Dragon in the first place.

Sure, dealing with gangs, guns and drugs was dangerous in it’s own right, but that was life for Akihito, part of him, to him it was ordinary, and this man was so far from ordinary that it made his head spin.

Real danger, it was so fun. This man so goddam fun.

“What’s the matter mister grumpy gills? Can’t find something you’re looking for?” He threw his head back and laughed again. What had he been pissed about before?

_“You know very well I can’t find what I’m looking for.”_

The man’s eyes narrowed, and even through the video feed he could feel the man’s power, the heat of his gaze, his will to own with those gold eyes and sharp teeth.

Mmm, those teeth that liked to bite.

“I’m sure you’ll find it….. eventually.” When was he such a girly flirt? This wasn’t high school, he sounded ridiculous, but this man made him say stupid things, god if the boys ever found out…. They would probably make memes of him and stick them up on the meme board of shame in the office, and Mikhail would be the main culprit. Just….. hell no.

_“In the meantime, show me what I’m looking for. Show me what’s mine.”_ The man drawled, his eyes were fixated on Akihito, the intent obvious. Akihito shivered, and he knew the man saw it from the way his lip curled in victory.

His heart started thumping as he undid his buttons.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Asami watched with hunger as the man unbuttoned his shirt the rest of the way, pushing the fabric to the side to reveal his lightly muscled chest, the skin pale and perfect, well not quite perfect, it would be perfect if it had bites marks all over it, marks made by him.

Those hazel eyes sparkled, and the man threw him a teasing smile before talking.

 _“Your turn….”_ He said, a little breathlessly.

Asami complied, he shrugged his jacket off rolled his sleeves up, and locked gazes through the camera as he slowly pulled his tie off with one finger, he loved watching blondie’s breath quicken as he undid the buttons of his vest and then his shirt underneath. He left it like that, slightly open until the foreigner whined at him.

_“Don’t be such a fucking cock tease. Let me see your body.”_

“Fufu, like this?” Asami teased as he ran his hand up under his shirt, shifting the fabric to the side, revealing his chiseled stomach and smooth chest. The responding groan was all he needed for his pants to start tightening, he knew Wildcat loved his body.

 _“Holy mother of…. This is not fair.”_ Came the whine as Wildcat rested his head back on the headboard and shut his eyes, his chest heaving.

“Mmmm, what’s not?” Though Asami thought he had some idea as to the answer, his pants were getting uncomfortably tight, and he watched Wildcats spare hand disappear downwards out of the screen.

His own hand followed suit, undoing his belt at the same time as the noises of pants undoing came through the phone speaker.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

By now Akihito’s heart was hammering in his chest, watching the man rub his hand up that seriously amazing body was torture, it wasn’t fair that this was just over camera, it actually hurt to watch, so he needed to close his eyes for a few moments, to stop himself coming off the axis of his self control, didn’t stop his hand from creeping downwards to undo his belt and unzip his pants though, and hearing the man do the same only added to his torture.

Real life would be so much better.

“It’s not fair that this is just over video.” Came his whispered answer as he finally opened his eyes again, finding those eyes boring into his, right now the man looked like an animal, a hungry predator, and Akihito was his prey. It was exhilarating.

He palmed his erection over his briefs as the man growled back.

_“Just tell me where you are, and I can make it all real my sweet blondie, I will make it real. Let me catch you.”_

Oh shit, he was losing it, so bad.

“Nnno. I can’t, that wouldn’t be safe for you.” He whispered again.

 _“You can tell me, tell me and I’ll be right there.”_ The man urged softly.

This was bad, Akihito was thinking with his dick and not his head, a deadly mistake for someone like him.

Just as he was about to say something disastrous, none other then Mikhail Arbatov barged through his door with a large handful of paperwork, without bothering to knock.

“Arrrrgh!” Busted. There was nothing he could do now but accept it, if he flipped out Mikhail would only mock him more, like he always did.

Mikhail stopped in his tracks as he took it all in, his little brother facetiming someone, his hand down his pants, half naked and flushing.

This wasn’t going to be good, his big brother had a seriously sick sense of humor.

Mikhail burst into laughter as he approached the side of the bed, his little brother just hissed and tried to shoo him away, and Mikhail only bellowed louder before standing next to the bed and dropping the paperwork on Akihito’s chest, all the while averting his eyes from the phone in amusement.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Asami was sure he was about to get answers any second now, just a few more pushes and Wildcat would let something slip from those perfect lips, even though he already had, it wasn’t safe for him? What had that meant?

He was already waiting for his next answer when there was a commotion on the other end, the blonde’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he growled at something behind the phone.

Just as Asami was about to ask what was going on, he heard another man’s deep laughter come through the phone.

Just like that, Asami’s hard on was gone. There was another man in Wildcat’s room, a man who had entered without warning, meaning he was close to _his_ Wildcat.

His body tensed in anger, the foreigner was his and his alone, he watched the screen as things played out before him, anger burning in his gut at the arrogant laughter on the other end.

 

The blonde started hissing and shooing away the laugher that was getting louder as it approached, and Asami saw the crotch area of someone stop at the side of bed before a bunch of paperwork landed on Wildcat’s chest.

The blonde just grunted before throwing a questioning glance upward to the man standing at the side of the bed.

Despite the initial shock, the blonde recovered quickly from being walked in on, and that made Asami even angrier.

What was his relationship with this person that he could be so nonchalant about the situation?

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Akihito gave up, Mikhail was coming in whether he liked it or not, and the paperwork was probably why, he cast a glance up at Mikhail in question, who simply just tapped his watch and signaled him to meet him in 5 minutes, all the while still chuckling.

What he wouldn’t take however, was his brother trying to wave to the camera haphazardly, while still averting his gaze, at least he had some concept of privacy for the person on the other end.

He waved in front of Akihito’s face in an attempt to say hello to the person on the other end, and that was taking it too far.

Akihito hissed again, and slapped the hand away, which earned a renewed burst of laughter as his brother finally began to get the fuck out.

His relief was short lived as his brother turned at the doorway to snap a photo of him, god dammit that was going to go on the board of shame.

What came next was down right fucking preposterous however, Mikhail brought his free hand up to his face in an eating motion, which meant he was inviting Sexy Dragon over for dinner….

A family dinner at the Arbatov’s was never good, the last time Akihito brought someone round, everyone had their gun included as part of the cutlery. He had been younger then, but even now he knew Mikhail was serious.

It was a rule that any lover of an Arbatov had to come round and face the firing squad, and the last person Akihito brought round, Yuri shot.

No way was he inviting someone whose name he didn’t know for a family fucking dinner. This was exactly why he didn’t want any strings, or Mikhail to find out in the first place.

Akihito shook his head furiously at his brother standing in the doorway, mouthing for him to get out so he could finish his call, Mikhail just tapped his watch as a reminder before shutting the door and leaving Akihito alone once more.

 

* * *

 

 

That laughter was infuriating, Asami instantly despised the person making that laughter, it sounded so mocking and amused.

Asami was not amused.

He fought back a snarl as a massive hand waved in front of the screen in greeting, who the fuck did that, really?

Who just casually waved to a stranger through the camera in this situation and laughed about it.

The only thing that made it better was the vicious slap Akihito gave the hand to get it out of the way.

At last, the laughing man must have been leaving as he watched Wildcat’s eyes trail something on his end, they widened momentarily and the blonde began to shake his head vehemently at something, mouthing something as he did so.

What was that about?

Finally, his, that’s right his, Wildcat let out a sigh as Asami heard the door close, the other man gone.

“Who was that?” Asami questioned intensely.

 _“Ugh, sorry that was my brother. He’s an absolute ass hat.”_ Came the irked reply as he checked the paperwork that was thrown down on him moments before.

A frustrated groan escaped the blonde as he read it and then tossed it aside.

“And you’re ok with your brother walking in on you like this?” Asami queried again, brother or not, he wasn’t happy he was this close to someone else that wasn’t Asami. Asami didn’t like to share with anyone, family or otherwise.

 _“My brother does what he wants, you’re lucky he didn’t lean down and say hello, because I wouldn’t put that passed him.”_ Wildcat began to do his buttons up with one hand.

_“He even had the nerve to invite you over for dinner, haha. Fuck what a joke.”_

“Oh, you wouldn’t want me to come hmm?”

 _“Dude, I don’t even know your name, and I quite like it that way. Not like you could just casually pop round either considering where I am.”_ The foreigner replied flatly.

“Oh, and where is that?” Asami asked, quite interested.

 _“Hmmm, guess I could tell you that. Europe. That really narrows it down for ya, heh.”_ There was an amused snicker as Wildcat did his pants up.

“It’s within my abilities to get to Europe short notice.” Came Asami’s admission.

_“Not fucking happening.”_

“Fufu, you still won’t admit you want to be caught, how amusing.”

 _“Yeah yeah, you think you’re hot shit but you’re just a warm fart.”_ The blonde chided.

“That’s not the impression you had before as you moaned just from looking at my body.” Asami pulled his shirt back even further just for emphasis.

_“Oh god, please don’t. I need to go back to work.”_

“Didn’t you just finish a big week?”

 _“Yup, but something urgent came up, so no sleep for me tonight.”_ Asami watched the blonde shift nervously before he continued, _“I have to go, sorry about before… and thanks for cheering me up I guess. Man, I sound like a girl”_

“Fufu, it’s no problem.  We will continue this another time.”

 _“Ha, you’re a randy one aren’t ya, I look forward to it. I’ll text you later, kay?”_ Asami watched as the European finally got himself in a state of decency.

“Alright then.”

Wildcat waved goodbye to the camera moments before he hung up, leaving Asami sitting in his recliner with his shirt open, irritated and with more questions.

Before he could get to the bottom of his thoughts though, his phone rung with a call from Kirishima.

“What is it?”

_“It’s the Koreans Asami sama, they’ve seized a shipment of a hundred thousand units that was making it’s way here from Mikhail.”_

“Is this within you’re capabilities to deal with Kirishima?” he asked his subordinate, Asami didn’t like to leave the country unless necessary, so Kirishima would go on his behalf.

_“Yes Asami sama, I’ll make preparations to leave right away.”_

As Asami ended the call with Kirishima, he thought about Mikhail, and wondered if he could pull a favor with the Russian and get him to look into Wildcat’s phone number, now that he knew it would be a Europe based account…

* * *

 

Akihito stormed down the hallway after awkwardly ending the call with Sexy Dragon, pissed off and embarrassed at the same time.

Pissed off that he had to go back work already, pissed off at being interrupted and embarrassed by the fact as well.

He found his brother waiting in the foyer with a smirk on his face.

“Mickey you fucking cock block, you could have knocked, or even left the paperwork on the night stand!”

“Haha, oh but where is the fun in that? It was a golden opportunity and I took it.” His eyes twinkled with mirth before he got serious.

“When’s he coming round for dinner?”

“Not happening. It’s not serious.” Akihito shot back.

“I will find out about him one way or another Akihito.” Mikhail said gravely.

“Go fuck yourself.” Came the flat reply.

“Baha, no that’s what you were just about to do.”

“…..Just shut up, So…. the Koreans have made a move between us and Japan huh?” Akihito wanted to change the subject, and brought up the reason his call was interrupted.

“Yup, it’s nothing too major, so I am sending you to work with Asami’s second, Kirishima Kei. You should be able to sort it out between you with out Asami or I stepping in. Get ready to fly.”

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akihito flies off the handle. People lose fingers. Kirishima gets weirded out…
> 
> This chapter is for you, Lita.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Non-funny chapter. Actually, this chapter is plain messed up, but I’m not sorry for it.  
> Warning. Heavy Torture content.

 

* * *

 

Akihito didn’t often downright fly off the handle, but this time he was close.

Really close.

He’d spent a week hunting down Mongolians, hadn’t even been in his own home for more then 3 hours before having his brother walk in on him nearly with his dick out, and now this….

The Koreans had intercepted a huge shipment on it’s way to Asami Ryuichi, hoping to cause strife between the two power countries, little did they know that Japan and Russia were allied, well, as far as underworld alliances went.

 

Korea’s underworld wasn’t directly under control of anyone but themselves with a head group, the Lee clan, that kept all the other organizations in check, however they were sandwiched in between Chinese, Russian and Japanese territories, so they were pretty much fucked no matter what way you looked at it. Fucked right up the ginger.

One word from one of the bigger countries would be all it took for them to lose jurisdiction over themselves.

Every now and then though, they would try something like this to up set the balance so that they weren’t quite as hard up against the wall as usual.

One hundred thousand units of firearms had disappeared from the transport depot in Seoul overnight, and it was Akihito’s job to hunt the shits down and then finish the trade with the Japanese man Kirishima Kei, his job would be to escort the shipment to Tokyo and make sure nothing else happened.

 

The moment his sleep-deprived feet hit the ground in Seoul, he had Axel and a squadron of 40 on the prowl for information, to capture anyone from the Lee group that they found.

Kristof was driving him from the airport to meet with Kirishima, the Russians and Japanese men would all be staying at the same hotel until the issue was sorted.

Just as Kristof was pulling into the underground parking lot for the hotel, his phone rung with a call from Axel, well, that didn’t take long.

“Yo?”

 _“Hey bossman, we’ve managed to catch 5 men from the Lee’s, we’ve got them in a storage unit awaiting your orders.”_ Came the gruff answer.

“Fucking hell Axel, is that a new record? 10 of you remain with the Koreans at the unit, I want the remaining 30 out searching still. Capture as many as you can. There should be more than 5 of the buggers lurking around the depot. Contact Lee’s rival clan, the Shioon’s and get the head to contact me.” This was going to be too easy.

 _“Consider it done, I’ll message Kristof our location. Also boss?”_ Axel sounded a little reluctant to continue, which was never good, Axel was one of the most blunt people Akihito knew, which is why they got on like a house on fire that had been doused in petrol.

“What is it?” he asked flatly.

 _“It seems the Lee’s thought they were striking at an optimal time with the change of Mikhail’s second….”_ There it was, the handle went flying.

Heads were going to fucking roll, literally.

Uncle Yuri deserved a rest after all his years of hard work as Mikhail’s second, and Mikhail picked him in Yuri’s stead. Anyone doubting Akihito’s appointment as second was like doubting Mikhail himself.

That was not acceptable.

 

You would never know it by looking at him as he strolled through the hotel lobby to Kirishima’s suite looking like any normal person, but inside he was calculating, planning how he could fuck all those Lee clan bastards right up their Korean dateholes.

  

* * *

 

The knock came at Kirishima’s hotel door at the expected time, the young Arbatov had arrived.

He would admit he was a little tentative to work with him, he was young after all, Kirishima was 29 when he got appointed Asami’s second.

After looking at the notes from Yoh about Mongolia however, he knew not to underestimate Akihito Arbatov.

Plus that would only be an insult to the young man, Kirishima remembered all the ruckus he had to go through when he first stepped up as second, he could only imagine how hard someone younger would have it, especially for the biggest crime family in Russia, people would be jumping at the chance to take advantage of what they saw as a weakness.

No, Kirishima would work with him with an open mind, that was the least he could do for the young man.

 

When the door opened it revealed a face Kirishima would swear he had seen before, but it was probably due to the resemblance to his brother Mikhail.

The young blonde in his black v neck t shirt with a close fitting dress jacket over the top, coupled with blue denim jeans and steel cap boots had the same air as his older brother, casual but he meant business.

What took Kirishima by surprise however, was the feral glean in his eye, coupled with the overly firm handshake and greeting in surprisingly good Japanese.

“Akihito Arbatov, Kirishima is it?”

“Yes, Kirishima Kei, pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise, sorry, I’m normally a more cherry bastard, but chasing down Mongols all week does a number on ya.”

 

Akihito took his guns from underneath his jacket and checked them as he was talking, making sure everything was ready for things to come.

“Kristof has the car waiting, we’ve secured some of Lee’s men already in a building nearby, I’ll find your guns quick smart so I can go home and fucking sleep.”

“And do something else eh boss?” One of the men muttered in English with a snicker, meaning for Kirishima to hear and understand.

“That piece of shit Mikhail told you, didn’t he Vlad!?” Akihito spat back in English, followed by a fleshy slap as his palm connected with his forehead in exasperation.

The man called Vlad just laughed even more, who laughed at their superior like that? Akihito just punched his subordinate playfully on the shoulder and gave him a pout. 

This guy….. was as odd as Mikhail.

“Are you more comfortable speaking English?” Kirishima asked.

“Oh, what? No, Vlad was just being a cheeky prick. Might as well though, since the Koreans will speak it. Wanna come and torture some Koreans with me?”

That feral glean came back to his eye then, and Kirishima couldn’t help but think the man was a little bit crazy. Young ones always were.

 

On the way down to the waiting car, Akihito’s phone rung, it was Shioon Jae, head of the Shioon clan, biggest rival to the Lee’s.

“Mr Shioon, I have a proposition for you.”

He relayed his intentions to the Korean man, who seemed more than cooperative to Akihito’s plans, given what he would gain from Akihito’s offer.

Kirishima listened to the conversation Akihito was having with interest, and he had to admit, it was a good plan, something that Kirishima himself had already thought of, and would have suggested if the young man hadn’t thought of it himself.

Mikhail taught him well, though when you were an Arbatov, even 23 years alive was more experience in their business than most people had.

 

* * *

 

When they got to the unit in an industrial area located not far from the hotel, Akihito and his men got serious and stopped their strange banter they were having in the car, something about a photo Mikhail snapped going up in the office.

Vlad and Kristof seemed to think said photo was hilarious, and Akihito just hissed at his subordinates and told them to shut the fuck up or he’d cut their pay.

Kirishima judged the relationships between Akihito and his men to be close, comrades and friends, it was effective, the way they all looked to him now that things were happening showed their loyalty.

It was the same for the man Akihito greeted with a high five at the unit, Axel was huge, a black haired version of Suoh, but much more vocal and he fit right into the eccentric group of Russians.

Kirishima couldn’t even comprehend the thought of Asami’s organization working in such a manner.

A few details were exchanged of the plan before Axel went out once more in the search for more information.

 

Akihito, his two men and Kirishima entered the warehouse where the 10 Russians were waiting for them with the five Koreans they had captured.

They were bound in a line, sitting in chairs with wrists behind their backs and ankles tied to chair legs.

All of Akihito’s anger came back at seeing the Koreans, that’s right, these were the fuckers that doubted Mikhail’s choice about Akihito.

Coupled with no sleep and already being ruffled from the week before, Akihito got straight to business.

He walked up to the first man in the line of chairs, cut the ties on his wrist and stood over him with a gun hard against his forehead.

“Call your boss.”

The man sneered but otherwise stayed silent.

Bang.

The dead man lolled back limp in his chair with a bullet hole blown right in the middle of his forehead.

“You see that? That’s my patience right now, finished. Now which one of you chinks is gonna call your boss for me huh?” he announced to the 4 remaining men, who were clearly surprised by the turn of events and their colleague’s sudden death.

 

Before he got an answer out of them, his phone buzzed in his pocket, and this time he felt like indulging himself, hell, he deserved a fucking 2 minute break after the past week, so he checked it, happy to see it was from Sexy Dragon, suddenly he felt a little less angry.

Sexy Dragon: _‘Where’s my dinner invitation? It didn’t arrive in the post yet.’_

“Ha! Your dinner invitation can suck my dick, bastard.” He muttered unconsciously, and instantly regretted it because of the wolf whistle that Vlad let out to echo through the building, causing all the other Russians to laugh, despite the dead man in the chair.

Akihito groaned, that shithead Mikhail, why did he even work so hard for the dickhead?

“All you pests know do you? Well you can all go slit your wrists for all I care. Enough.”

They all snickered a bit, but Akihito flicked his hand for silence, and was rewarded with it instantaneously.

He quickly text back anyway, he couldn’t ignore a cheeky text like that.

‘Post now days is slow. How’s my gun, killed anyone with it yet?’

It was a more forward then usual, but call him curious, he’d just shot someone with the gun he had of Sexy Dragon’s (he’d taken to using it in Mongolia when Mikhail wasn’t around, it was a nice gun) and it got him wondering if Sexy Dragon used his.

 

 

Kirishima had to admit shooting the man was a little rash, but by the way the Russians in the building reacted, it seemed they knew what Akihito was up to, and this wasn’t part of Kirishima’s task in Korea, so he stood back and watched.

Watching the man check his phone and the comment that ensued was just down right strange, who checked their phone in this situation and then said something like ‘suck my dick’. This one was even weirder then Mikhail, he decided. Asami definitely wasn’t going to like him.

But hearing the man Vlad whistle and the resulting laughter was plain bonkers, and Kirishima was about to speak up and say now really wasn’t the time for joking, or texting for that matter, but Akihito silenced all the men with a quick flick of his hand, Kirishima was actually surprised with the speed in which they obeyed.

 

 

In no time, one of the men had Mr Lee on the phone, which was then passed to Akihito.

“Mr Lee, you have something of mine that I want back. How does a trade sound to you?” Akihito tried to put on a naïve voice, and even acting like he was playing into that dog’s hands was irritating, it pissed the hell out of him actually, but it was necessary, and in the end everyone would know who actually had control all along.

 

They arranged a place to meet with their men in 1 hour, which would give Akihito plenty of time to locate where his shipment was and set up the ambush at the meet up location.

All he had to do now was contact Shioon Jae and tell him the location, and make sure when he secured the shipment that it didn’t get back to Mr Lee that all his leverage was gone.

 

As he hung up the phone he turned back to the four Koreans left alive and began his questioning anew.

“Where’s my shit? Any of you know?”

The fucking idiots remained silent, they should have known it wasn’t a good idea by now.

Akihito let a small sigh escape him as he shot the unsuspecting man next to the already dead one.

“Two down, three to go.” He said absentmindedly, “ you want to keep this going, cos I really don’t mind, Axel is out catching more of you for me to have fun with as we speak.”

 

Akihito hadn’t even finished talking before the man on the end spewed out an address in terrified stuttering, the other two men glared at him in turn.

“Vlad, take the men and go check if it’s true. Call me as soon as you get there.” He turned to the one who’d spoken, “and you had better bloody hope it’s true you maggot.”

Vlad and the 10 Russians left, leaving only Akihito, Kristof and Kirishima as they waited for the report back.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The Japanese crime lord put his pen down to check his phone that was buzzing next to him on his desk at Sion, the name Wildcat on the screen.

Asami wasn’t pleased with the relatively quick reply he got to his message about dinner, no, it was absurd to be happy that he got a reply within minutes.

Didn’t stop the smirk on his face though.

Wildcat: _‘Post now days is slow. How’s my gun, killed anyone with it yet?’_

What a blunt question, the most blunt one either of them had asked, but it was still a question nonetheless, and it gave Asami an opportunity to learn more, how would the foreigner react to him killing someone? That would tell Asami a lot about his character.

‘And if I have?’ send.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Akihito’s phone buzzed while they waited for word from Vlad.

Sexy Dragon: _‘And if I have?’_

He should have expected an answer like that, like anyone was going to admit to murdering someone to a stranger whose name they didn’t know.

The thing they had going was messed up in so many ways, adding murder confessions to it would take it to a whole new level of fucked up. Akihito would have liked to take it to that level to be honest, fucked up and fun sounded like a good mix to him.

‘I hope the muppets deserved it, and that you cleaned my gun properly afterwards…..’

 

* * *

 

 

Asami let slip a small chuckle as he read the reply he got, so his Wildcat didn’t seem fussed about killing people, that was good.

Really, really good, his attraction to Wildcat went up exponentially at the fact, he couldn’t wait to get his hands on him now.

When he finally did, he would make the blonde spill everything about himself.

 

He got another message, this time from Kirishima.

Kirishima: _‘Boss, we should have our hands on the shipment by tonight, young Arbatov is efficient, a little on the weird side though. K.K’_

Asami had to admit that was fast, he’d expected a couple of days before they located the shipment, maybe he should rethink his prior statement of eating the young Arbatov for breakfast.

No, he would decide that when he met the man for himself.

 

But right now he didn’t want to thinking about crazy Arbatovs when he had something else fun to play with.

He sent Kirishima a quick text before finally replying to Wildcat.

‘I always look after my things. And what about my gun, you know to point the long end at people and make sure the safety is off don’t you?’

 

* * *

 

 

The silence in the storage facility was disturbed as Akihito barked a laugh at the mocking reply he got from Sexy Dragon, oh if only he knew how much Akihito really knew about guns.

A firearms dealer that didn’t know about guns was as useless as tits on a bull.

Akihito knew about guns alright, he knew to point the goddam barrel at the person, Sexy Dragon was just taunting him for a reply.

He’d give him a reply that spelt out the obvious. It was probably too much, but meh, not like he could track him down and make him atone for his sins, which were many. Even if the man was a cop or something of the sort, Arbatov family power would probably overwrite anything the man could do anyway.

‘I’ve been too busy pointing the long end at people to have the safety on.’ Send.

It was true, Akihito didn’t like giving the order to kill people to others, if he decided to make the choice to end someone’s life, then he should at least be the one to pull the trigger.

The result in Mongolia was him killing the higher ups himself, as well as the people he’d shot on the raid of their headquarters.

He’d killed over 20 people himself that week, and all his men had taken double that amount, they decimated the Mongolian crime syndicate to teach people a lesson.

Mongolia was corrupt as hell, so all the killings didn’t really matter to local authorities.

Yes, in the context of it, Sexy Dragon’s gun had been busy.

It was about to get busier.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The powerful muscles of Asami’s body stiffened in his leather desk chair as he read the reply, and he wasn’t sure if it was serious or not.

No, he decided it must have been serious, when the blonde was joking it was always accompanied with a ‘lol’ or an emoji of some sort, this text was plain and simple, Wildcat had been using his gun to kill people.

As much as he disliked asking Mikhail Arbatov for favors, he was starting to consider it seriously, he would bring it up at their next meeting he decided.

He would learn as much as he could about Wildcat himself until then, he was about due to have another meeting with Mikhail soon.

‘You’ll have to give me a demonstration of your skill one day.’ Send.

He would like to see what his Wildcat could do.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Before Akihito could check the reply that was blinking on screen, it was overridden with the call he was expecting from Vlad.

“Report.”

_“It’s as the man said bossman, there were only a handful of men guarding the building, we’ve disarmed them and secured it already without them sending word out, didn’t even put up an exciting fight, fucking boring.”_

“Woah. Everyone is on the ball today, we’ll have to do some rad shit when we get back to Moscow to make up for this farce. I’ll have the others sent to you to lock down the area and do an inspection, then Kirishima’s men can come in and take over. Tell Axel and 5 others to come back with the Koreans you have back here, we’ll take them to the meeting point.”

_“Righto, you don’t want more of us at the meeting boss?”_

Akihito could hear the worry in Vlad’s voice, he was letting his boss walk into a meeting with a clan leader with only 6 men, it wouldn’t be for long though, Shioon Jae’s men would be honing in on the area for the set up before things could go pear shaped.

“Na, the less the better, let that Lee fuck think I’m naïve, it will be his biggest mistake before I end him for good.”

Akihito had to bite back a snarl at the last words, the man was seriously underestimating him, not only had he posted men obviously close to the original depot, he’d posted men that knew the real location of their stolen shipment, what a dumbass.

Mr Lee was going to be sorry for ever thinking that Mikhail had made the wrong choice.

In fact, he was going to get the apology in writing.

 

As he hung up, Akihito brought his gun up and unloaded the bullets into the chests of the two men that had kept quiet.

The piercing shots coupled with the splatter of blood echoed throughout the building, leaving ears ringing and the last man whimpering.

“I’ll let you live since you spoke up, what Shioon does with the ones Axel caught is his choice, not mine.” All of Akihito’s playfulness was gone, his words were cold and flat, and the man’s whining got louder as he realized he would be handed over to his rival clan.

“Gag him, I’m not listening to that verbal diarrhea.”

 

It was done at once, everyone stood to attention noting how cold the mood had become with the phone call.

Akihito turned to Kirishima and relayed it all.

“Your weapons are secure, we’re just doing a stock take then you’re all set to move in and go from there after the showdown with Lee. I’ll throw in a supply of coke ready for distribution for the trouble.”

Kirishima pushed his glasses against his nose before replying, he wanted to see how the meeting turned out.

“I’ll have my men move in and begin preparations to get it back to Tokyo, if you don’t mind I’d like to come to the meeting with Mr Lee and see how it ends up.”

Akihito just shrugged.

“Do what you want.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

In the end Axel came back with 10 bound Koreans that they brought to a quiet meeting point in a quiet industrial lot outside of Seoul.

Mr Lee was waiting with 10 men already, which Akihito was expecting, he sent the text to Shioon Jae to begin moving in before he got out of the car.

“Mr Lee, my name is Akihito Arbatov.” Was all he said, he was struggling at this point not to take his gun out and end them all, but at the moment they were outnumbered.

“Pleasure to meet Mikhail’s second, shall we get down to business then?” came the mocking answer. Akihito felt his finger twitch, but that was it, he had better control then that, and in moments he would get to make that face writhe in pain anyway.

This was his cue however, to let Mr Lee know his mistake.

“You see Mr Lee, I don’t think I should have to do any business for something that already belongs to me, don’t you?”

At that moment, red lasers landed on every single one of the Koreans, and rival clansmen walked out from their hiding spots with weapons cocked on Lee’s men.

Shioon Jae arrived moments later in another car, and then it was all clear what had happened.

Akihito had worked with Korea’s next biggest clan and set Mr Lee up, in return the Shioon’s would get Korea, Mr Lee and his men.

The Shioon’s would be under ultimately be under Arbatov control, but Akihito would step in any other clans gave them trouble.

A ‘you scratch my back if I scratch yours’ situation.

It was perfect.

Mr Lee stood stupefied and Akihito enjoyed immensely watching the blood drain from the man’s face, it wasn’t enough however, to compensate for his ire.

“Shioon, I’m going to have to alter our deal, I want the pleasure of dealing with Mr Lee here myself.” He said thoughtfully.

The man just shrugged.

“Suit yourself, as long as he’s dead in the end.”

 

“Oho, much appreciated,” he turned to Mr Lee, who had since been secured by Axel and Kristof, “do you have any fucking idea what your silly little game interrupted do you? Do you have any idea how fucking tired I am?! You think you can pull a trick on my brother and Japan and get away with it because of me? You couldn’t me more wrong.”

 

Akihito was pacing in his frustration, and all eyes were on him, he was giving off vibes of slight insanity at this point, the past week boiling to a head with his lack of sleep and the way the man thought he could insult him so.

The man held his ground, he was a boss as well after all, but Akihito was an Arbatov, and he would show everyone here who was the real boss.

His eyes glowed with animosity and he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and stalked up to Mr Lee, who twitched at the sound of the blade flicking open.

“Give me his hand Axel.” He barked, and was rewarded instantly with Mr Lee’s hand held firm in front of Akihito.

“Watch what happens, when you piss off a tired Arbatov….”

He gripped the index finger and brought the blade down and hacked away, through the flesh, wiggling the blade in between the joint until it came away with a pop.

The man was shouting all the while, his face going even whiter than it was before, and Akihito drew a red moustache on the man’s face with the end of his own bloody finger.

“It’s a nice color on you, red.” Akihito said quietly before tossing the finger aside, “Next finger.”

The man cried out again, this time in anticipating fear, trying to buck the hold the two huge Russians had on him, but it was no use.

Akihito repeated the process with the next finger, this time drawing bloody glasses on the man’s face, all the Russians stood nonchalant, the watching Koreans were pale, even Mr Shioon.

 

Kirishima watched in calculating silence, the plan had gone flawlessly, he expected Akihito to shoot Mr Lee, but this was beyond fucked up, this was something Asami would do, maybe his boss would like him after all.

“3 more to go Mr Lee, you’re doing well.”

Yes, Asami would like this one.

Kirishima had no choice but to watch as Akihito removed all the man’s fingers and thumb on one hand, careful to pace the amputations so the man wouldn’t pass out.

He was wondering what the point of taking the man’s fingers off was when he saw Akihito take a pen out of his jacket pocket and flick his lip in thought with it.

“Does anyone have some paper I can use?” he asked.

Someone brought out a folded up bit of paper in haste and handed it to Akihito, who smiled in thanks, Kirishima quirked an eyebrow, who smiled at a time like this?

When he dropped the pen and paper in front of Mr Lee however, even Kirishima’s stomach gave a little turn at what was to come.

 

 

Akihito dropped the paper at Mr Lee’s feet as well as the pen he was holding.

“On your knees, write me an apology note. Say you’re sorry for interfering in my brothers business, sorry for causing Kirishima here to come all the way from Tokyo for something that shouldn’t have happened.  Sorry for doubting me, Akihito Arbatov. Try not to get blood on the paper as well will ya.”

The man gaped at him before looking back to the items on the floor, he looked ridiculous with his blood moustache and glasses and he was beginning to go into shock with the shakes, but Akihito wouldn’t have any of that.

He kicked the fingerless hand and snarled for him to hurry up, his anger coming to the fore.

The man knew it was hopeless to defy by now, so he managed to grip the pen like you did a rope or a pole, though poorly without the added grip of fingers, and began shakily scrawling a bloody mess on the tiny bit of paper that had been provided.

 

All that could be heard for a few minutes was the man’s heavy breathing and the rustling of his movements as Akihito stood over him and watched.

His impatience got the better of him, and he bent down to snatch the stained paper and inspect in thoughtfully.

He brought it down pensively after a few moments.

“Did I forget to mention that I wanted it in Russian?” he asked like it was obvious.

The man stayed silent, his eyes wide by now, and Akihito took his phone out to snap a photo of the man on his knees before him, his eyes blown wide in fear, coupled with blood glasses and moustache, it was a pretty funny picture, he snickered.

“You can’t write Russian?” came his sarcastic question.

The man just shook his head vehemently, to which Akihito brought out his gun, placing the end of the barrel on top of Mr Lee’s head.

All Lee’s men began to struggle at that moment, but with Shioon’s men and the Russians that began to arrive once the situation was secure, it was futile, they were all driven to their knees to watch the execution of their boss.

“Too bad, I wanted it in Russian, this apology isn’t enough for all the shit I’ve been through.” And he pulled the trigger, the downward traveling bullet snapping the man’s head down in death.

Mr Lee’s corpse was dropped to the ground as Akihito made his way over to Shioon Jae to offer a bloody hand.

“Pleasure working with you Shioon, if you’re in trouble don’t hesitate to call me.”

 

Shioon returned his handshake with a respectful look on his face, the rumors he’d heard about Akihito Arbatov were true, that stupid bastard Lee had made a big mistake and lost everything.

“Like wise, I’ll keep Korea secure for your shipments to pass through untroubled from now on.”

“Appreciate it…. And Shioon.” Akihito said flatly.

“Yes?” came the tense reply.

“If you ever think about giving me trouble, just remember what happened here, because I’ll make sure it’s worse if I have to come back a second time.” It was a clear threat, one that would be carried with no hesitation.

 

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Akihito Arbatov. Korea is yours.” He bowed in answer.

“Good, now that’s sorted, I’ll leave the rest of Lee’s men to you.” Akihito was already on his phone as he walked away, calling his brother Mikhail as Shioon signaled his men to finish off the last of Lee’s men.

Gunshots rang out as the call connected with Mikhail.

 _“Akihitoooo, how goes it? Oh, things sound lively where you are! What fun!”_ said the laughing Mikhail.

“Mickey I got you a present.” Akihito said blatantly.

_“And what’s that?”_

“Korea of course! What else did you think?”

 _“Well aren’t you just the most thoughtful little shit, thanks so much, I love it. All sorted then? That was fast.”_ Mikhail sounded like the proud big brother he was.

“Yup, all done, can I come home now? I’m fucking exhausted, I went a little overboard cos I was so pissed…” he said as he looked back at the dead body of Mr Lee.

_“Yeah, come home with the boys, you can all have the day off tomorrow. Yuri can fill in for you for the day.”_

“Chahooo, I foresee alcohol in my near future!” he did a little jump in his happiness, quickly forgetting the situation behind him.

 _“Haha, fuck you’re such a piss head. My little bro piss head though, good job Akihito, see you when you get back.”_ A laughing Mikhail hung up.

 

Akihito stood staring at his phone with a small grin on his face, hearing his brother tell him good job was all he needed, he took a deep breath and let all his troubles escape with his exhale, he had to admit, he’d lost it a bit on Mr Lee, but he still had control of the situation the entire time, so no harm no foul.

He finally had the time to text Sexy Dragon back.

‘I’ll give you a demonstration when you give my gun back. :P’ send.

Now he could finally chill out.

 

Kirishima watched the entire display with stunned interest, did he just call Korea a present and say it was Mikhail’s now?

It was clear Shioon wouldn’t try anything after the sick little display that Akihito had shown him and all his men, but to call Korea a present…

Akihito had just taken control of an entire country’s underworld in one foul swoop, and now he was casually texting with a smile on his face as people were killed behind him.

Regardless, it was finished and Kirishima had been there to observe the capabilities of Mikhail’s new second, and he was more then capable.

He dialed Asami to let him know it was done and that he would be on his way.

 _“Report Kirishima, you interrupted a text I was sending.”_ Did his boss really sound sulky over his text being interrupted? Come to think of it, his boss had been texting a lot lately.

“Asami sama, everything is secure, the shipment is sound and we won’t be having trouble with Korea again…”

_“Oh, so you hung round to see the outcome of the meeting? What’s the young Arbatov like then?”_

“He… he’s bat shit crazy Asami sama.”

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akihito is a needy stubborn drunk, the word boyfriend gets mentioned, Asami likes it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys can thank coritos, whose daily conversations I have with her inspire this fic! That’s why it’s for her, love you girly!
> 
> This chapter is for Tarantasik! thank you for your insight on things Russia in your previous comments.
> 
> Songs.  
> NOFX, Insatant Crassic.
> 
> All other lyrics are Flight of the Concords. From New Zealand XD  
> The most beautiful girl in the room.  
> The pretty prince of parties.  
> Hiphopopotamus Vs. Rhymenoceros  
> Leggy Blonde.  
> I own none of those rhymes.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Asami sat in his desk at his Sion office, as close to outright laughter as he had ever come after listening to the reports on the torture that the younger Arbatov had administered to the Korean, Mr Lee, in Seoul.

“Oho, he _finger painted_ on Mr Lee’s face with his own finger?” He chuckled in his desk, the paperwork on the shipment forgotten in his amusement.

Kirishima shifted awkwardly in front of the desk, he should have known his boss would enjoy his report on the torture, Asami had asked him to explain it to him three times now, getting every last detail and chuckling every time Kirishima remembered something new.

It was all very well for Asami sama to ask questions, but it didn’t mean that Kirishima liked living through the scene again and again.

“He got a photo of it?” Asami queried when Kirishima got to the part about Mikhail’s second snapping a photo of Mr Lee on his knees.

“Yes, Asami sama.”

“Fufu, so clever, he sounds like Mikhail when he was younger.”

“Mikhail has rubbed off on him Asami sama.” Kirishima really didn’t want to remember the things his boss and Mikhail had gotten up to when they worked together in the past, but it seemed the sadistic tenancies were genetic and had been passed to the younger Arbatov also.

“Kirishima, organize a meet up with the Arbatovs, I’d like to meet Milhail’s second for myself.”

“I’ll get onto it now, Asami sama.” Kirishima bowed before leaving the office.

He cringed at the thought of Asami meeting Akihito Arbatov, Akihito was…. Eccentric at best, so were his men, and it would either go extremely well, or it would be the start of WW3.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Mikhail met Akihito and his men in one of the rumpus rooms of the Arbatov mansion, they had just got off the plane and were winding down from their business in Korea, stretching stiff muscles and relaxing while Akihito debriefed with Mikhail.

“Ah, throwing in the drugs was good, though it was only delayed a couple of days, I did promise Asami it would be on time.”

“Well, it’s all sorted now, anything else pop up I need to see to while I was gone?” Akihito questioned.

“Na, you’re good, it’s quiet on most fronts at the moment, so you’re free to go play and get piss wrecked.”

“Yuss, sweet deal. Oh, I took this to go with your present.” The smaller blonde flicked through his phone and passed it to his brother.

“Fwahaha, this is fucking brilliant Akihito, it really is. I might even frame it and put it in my office! Oho, you gotta send it to me.” Mikhail clutched at his stomach as he looked at the photo of a mortified Mr Lee with blood glasses and moustache on Akihito’s phone.

Akihito just stood before his older brother with a pleased smirk at Mikhail’s reaction.

“You’re such a sick fuck, Mickey.” Akihito chided.

“Oi, none of that, who’s the one that did this shit huh?” Mikhail replied with feigned innocence.

“It’s not my fault I grew up with a mental case.” Akihito deadpanned.

“Haha! It’s fucking genetic you nitwit. Don’t blame me, blame the old man!”

“Oh, always the same bullshit excuse! How could I know if he and Ma died when I was young” Akihito poked his tongue out, his sarcasm trying to hide his awkwardness at the mention of their dead parents.

They’d both been killed in a trade gone wrong when Akihito was a child, Mikhail had many memories of their parents, but Akihito only had a few to go by. So he didn’t really know if it was genetic, but he had heard stories about how badass his dad was.

He took his phone from Mikhail and sent him the photo they were discussing.

“Cheeky little fucker. I’m sending this to Asami, he’ll get a real kick out of this. Ha!” The Russian mob leader played on his phone for a few seconds, sending the photo to his Japanese counterpart.

“Oh, that reminds me, he wants to have a get together, it seems he was impressed with what Kirishima reported back on you.” Mikhail puffed his chest out with pride as he continued. “Of course he’s impressed! Arbatov represent!” he barked aloud, his hands cupping his mouth for volume.

“OORAH!” came the deep, unified shout from every single man in the room, accompanied with a fist over heart salute.

“Yeah, whaaat! Anyway, I digress! We’re going to Tokyo next week alright, so don’t fuck anything up and get all busy and shit before then, and you had better fucking find your other gun while we’re there, got it shit stain! Heh.” Mikhail winked at his little brother, indicating he knew all along that Akihito had lost his black pistol.

“Suck shit bastard, how’d you know!” Akihito spat back.

“I didn’t get to where I am now by not noticing the small things, dumbass. I’ll leave you to it now. Be a good lad and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, kay?” he ruffled the indignant Akihito’s hair before waving to the men in the room and making his exit, leaving 41 men to their devices for the night.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Asami picked his phone off his desk, a little faster then usual, expecting it to be his Wildcat that was making his phone vibrate on the wooden surface, only to see Mikhail Arbatov’s name flash across the screen.

 

Wondering what that crazy mobster might send him, he clicked to read it, and the evil smirk that spread across his face was instantaneous.

Mikhail: _‘Look, look at this fucking work of art! Better then Van Gough if I don’t say so myself. Ain’t my little bro the best?’_

Underneath was a photo of Mr Lee, the angle of the shot was taken from above his head, his eyes looking up to the camera in absolute terror, framed by thick lines of blood around his eyes, and a messy moustache of blood that was running down the sides of his mouth.

“Fufu, so amusing. Red suits him.” Asami greatly enjoyed looking at the photo for the next few minutes, Mr Lee had given Asami, Mikhail and even Feilong a fair amount of trouble over the years, and this was a fate that Asami thought the man deserved, preserved in a photo for all time.

 

The young Arbatov was a creative one, but it was to be expected if he was related to Mikhail, who was famous in the underworld for pushing peoples buttons just for fun.

Two crazy Arbatov’s would be a force to be reckoned with, so Asami would make sure in meeting them, that they would continue to stay on good terms, and he would also be calling in a special favor, that was the main reason he’d called for the meet up.

 

As much as Asami was intrigued to meet Mikhail’s little brother, it paled in comparison to his eagerness to meet someone else.

Namely, Wildcat, who he hadn’t heard from for over half a day now, he was contemplating sending him another text, when his phone flashed with the name of said person on the screen.

 

Wildcat: _‘Just finished work, time for a drink, or 10. Care to join me? Oh, that’s right, you can’t. :P’_

“Oho, cheeky boy, I’ll make you regret ever teasing me.” Asami muttered out loud in his office.

‘I know, you’re upset that I can’t join you, don’t get so needy about it.’

Two could play that game, he pushed send before getting out of his chair and heading out with Kirishima and Suoh to deal with a few pests that had popped up in Tokyo over the last week, it was going to be a busy night.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Akihito lounged in the VIP section of the club with his men, happy, slightly buzzed and at ease.

This was his city, Moscow, and the huge industrial club they were in belonged to the Arbatov’s, it was good to be home, but it was also good to hear he was going to Tokyo in one week.

It _may_ have been part of the reason he was feeling so happy, but he wasn’t some giddy high school girl, fuck that shit, he was happy because… yeah, he was happy at the notion of meeting Sexy Dragon again, god dammit.

 

Surrounded by his 40 best men, he kicked the night off with a text to Sexy Dragon before getting into the heavy drinking, he thought to let the muscled sex machine know he was coming, but that wasn’t Akihito’s style, he’d text him when he got there and just wing it, texting him early would be like, well it would be like setting up a date. Just fuck no.

Akihito sat next to Axel, Vlad and Kristof on the couch in the dimly lit club that was thumping with house music, surrounded by many couches like the one he was on that were all occupied by his men, Russians, Swiss, Germans and even some Italians, they were a diverse bunch and spoke many different language, so the default language for everyone was English.

It made things simple.

It also meant that when he ever got absolutely shit faced, he spoke English, although incoherent most of the time, it had still saved his ass more times then he could count when he was in a city that wasn’t to fond of Russians, or the name associated with Russia at least, namely Arbatov.

“Another round bossman?” Axel asked as everyone finished their drinks.

“Why not eh? Get them to bring up a few bottles of Vodka, we’ll sink some shots and get loose.” Akihito responded as he skulled back the last of his beer.

Axel got up to signal the bartenders to bring more drinks as Akihito’s phone buzzed in his pocket.

Sexy Dragon: _‘I know, you’re upset that I can’t join you, don’t get so needy about it.’_

 

“Haha! Well fuck ya then, see how needy _you_ get when I don’t text back.” Akihito threw his phone on the table in front of him, smirking as he intended to teach Sexy Dragon who the needy one really was. “Should have called you Cheeky Dragon instead.” He chuckled to himself.

 

He should have known better then to fucking check his phone and smirk when he was sitting next to that smart ass Vlad, who let out a huge ear piercing wolf whistle that was overheard perfectly as the music changed.

The result was a chorus of more whistles and men making whipped sounds, jeering and laughing in their boss’s direction, much to the mortification of the staff who were in the midst of them, placing bottles of Vodka on each table along with trays of shot glasses.

It was custom in their troop whenever anyone got a lover or partner, and Akihito hadn’t had any real relationships to their knowledge, so they all made the most of it while it lasted.

 

“Oi oi oi!”Akihito shouted as he picked up a shot glass that had been filled, and stood to face his men, “Shut your filthy traps and get skull fucked! It’s an order!” he raised his glass in the air in salute before downing the liquid fire, his men following suit.

 

It had been an hour before Akihito decided he didn’t want to teach Sexy Dragon a lesson anymore, the liquor was hard, and it was flowing fast, stripping away any reason Akihito had not to text the man with the hot, rock solid ass. It was such a fucking nice ass, had he told the man how nice it was? How firm and toned it was, he didn’t think he had, and he definitely needed to tell him. So tell him he did.

 

‘Hey… did I tell ypu how delish your ass iz?’ he pushed send, and then had another round of drinks with his men as he waited for a reply.

 

The club was pumping now, everyone wanted access to the giant VIP area in the corner where all the young good-looking men were drinking, laughing and catching everyone’s eye. Of course they also knew it was Akihito and his men, and people would take any chance they could get to suck up to the Russian mob.

 

Akihito downed a few more beers, and it’d been an hour since he text Sexy Hot Ass Dragon, and he still hadn’t got a reply, he was feeling quite shitty about it, thus he found himself texting said person again, in a sulk.

‘Text me baaaaaaaaack!’ he pushed send and then turned to Axel, who was only slightly less shit faced than him at this point.

“Axxxxellll! Maybe, he no like me anymore?” he whined to his own second, who burst out laughing at his boss’s stupid question.

“Bossman! You’re brilliant, but a fucking idiot, ya got people linin’ up for ya, fucks sake!” Axel drawled, clapping his boss on the shoulder.

“But I like this oooooone!” the Arbatov replied in a pout.

“Send him a fucking selfie or somethin’, somethin’ that’ll rattle his bones.” Axel shrugged at his suggestion, he’d never seen his best friend and boss like this with someone before, so instead of poking fun, he did his job and gave advice like a good friend would, albeit drunken advice wasn’t the best, but he still tried!

 

“Aha, your da bestest Axel! My bestie for a reason eh! I’ll be right back, hehe.”

Akihito’s eyes were alight with mischief as he walked the halls to the bathroom, he had the perfect idea to get Sexy Dragon’s attention.

 

 

* * *

 

Asami felt his phone alert in his pocket for the third time that night, he’d only just finished squashing the last of the bugs that thought they could encroach on his territory, and finally, he took his phone out of his pocket, curious to see three messages from Wildcat.

He chuckled at the first one, the drunken typos along with the comment on his ass lightening his mood.

The second one had his smirk spreading a little wider, it seemed his kitten was sulking about Asami not getting back to him, now he knew how it felt.

The third one however, had Kirishima and Suoh on edge as a predatory noise escaped their boss’s throat.

It was a photo. A really fucking amazing photo.

There was his Wildcat, with the phone above his head, pointing down to his face and body.

Wildcat, who was biting his bottom lip while looking at the camera, his face flushed a delicious shade of pink from alcohol.

The boys shirt was a low cut v neck, revealing the perfect cream colored skin on his smooth chest, the button and zip to his low riding jeans were undone, and were being pushed further down with a hand that was holding Asami’s black gun, the barrel tucked under the fabric, plunging down Wildcat’s briefs.

He was not jealous of the barrel of his _own_ gun touching all that soft skin, going all the places that Asami longed to go, but fuck, that picture.

He was dialing the number before his dick had the time to even get to full hardness.

Wildcat wanted his attention, and he would give it to him, all of it.

* * *

 

 

Akihito walked out of the bathroom, pretty fucking sure the selfie he’d sent Sexy Dragon would get his attention, it was a bit lewd, okay a lot lewd, but he knew the man would get off on it, if it were reversed and it were a picture of the black haired predator, Akihito sure would.

Heck, he’d be in the bathroom right now getting his end off if it were reversed.

He’d taken only a few steps down the hall, when his phone rung, and he did a little fist pump in personal victory.

Time to play.

“Oho, how’s it gooooin? To what do I have theee honor of your cellular communications?” he tried not to slur his English, but there was really no helping it. Vodka, yup, pretty much.

 _“You know very well why I’m calling you, did you want my attention that badly hmm?”_ the man drawled in well spoken English.

“Waha, it speaks engrish! I win again.” He stifled his giggle as he continued, “so whattya want huh?” he leant against the wall of the hallway, concentrating on the conversation.

 _“You know what I want, sassy boy.”_ There was that low tone again, the one that made Akihito’s blood race, god it was even more exciting when jacked up on alcohol. So much goddam fun!

“You’ll have to spell it out for me, sexy bum, or I’ll never know.” He mocked the man’s words that he’d spoken to Akihito during their first phone call.

The growl he got in response was hilari-fucking-ous.

Just as he was about to answer said growl, a bunch of men and woman walked down the hall, their eyes lighting up when they saw Akihito Arbatov standing alone in the corridor.

 

* * *

 

 

Asami would normally have loved to play word games with the spitfire blonde, it was what made him so enticing in the first place, but with the tightness in his pants increasing the more he thought about that photo while chatting with the drunken blonde meant word games were the last thing on his mind.

He growled angrily at the blonde’s teasing, Asami Ryuichi was not used to being toyed with.

Before he got a response, there was a commotion on the other end and it sounded like Wildcat had company all of a sudden.

Asami listened as he heard comments in thick English that made him bristle with possessiveness.

 _“Aki baby, come to our table for a drink…”_ a girl’s voice

 _“You never play with us anymore, you’re sooo busy.”_ A man’s voice.

 _“Come on babe, share a drink with us.”_ Another girl’s voice.

There were more desperate voices pleading with his Wildcat to join them, Asami could almost picture it, just like the night he met him in Dracaena, reminding him Wildcat was a people magnet.

That was not acceptable to Asami, Wildcat was his, those people needed to back away from what was his.

“Hey. You-” Asami began, intending to let the blonde know to whom he belonged, but was interrupted before he could get two words out.

_“I’ll call you back later, kay sweet cheeks?”_

Before Asami could answer again, the phone line was overwhelmed with questions, which Asami listened too in annoyance.

 _“Is that your boyfriend Aki?”_ a girl asked, sounding scandalized.

Asami had to admit he was curious as to what Wildcat would say to that one.

 _“Aha, yeah something like that.”_ He heard the blonde mutter before the phone line went dead.

 

Asami sat in the back of his limo on the way to the penthouse…. Frustrated and horny, but feeling slightly satisfied nonetheless.

 

“Boyfriend eh, it’s been a long time since I’ve been called that. Fufu.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

It’d only been half an hour and Akihito was already bored of these trolls on the main floor, no one excited him like Sexy Dragon, there was no one here who exuded ‘mutha fucking bad ass’ like that man did, everyone here had an ants cock of appeal compared to that man.  

He wanted to talk to Sexy Bum Dragon more, he felt bad for teasing the man now and then cutting it short. He didn’t mean too, honest, but for some reason people always hung around Akihito, and he had no idea why.

Oh shit! He might be angry with Akihito since he’d practically hung up on the man, what if he didn’t like him anymore, what if he wouldn’t play with him anymore, what if he didn’t want to chase him, or text him or or or… no, Akihito couldn’t have that, not after he worked so hard to get his attention, he had to make it up to him.

He’d sing him a song, everyone liked songs right?

Fuck yes, what a brilliant fucking idea.

He ignored people calling out his name as he made his way back to the hallway, slipping his phone from his pocket snickering when he figured out what he was going to sing.

Best idea EVER.

 

* * *

 

 

Asami had only just stepped foot in the door of his penthouse door when his mobile rung, he knew who it was, and decided to let it ring for a while.

He was tempted to let it ring out, he wasn’t pleased that their call had been cut short, and it had been an important.

Asami’s pants told him so.

He had time enough to set his briefcase on the table and sit in his recliner before he finally swiped the green button on his phone.

Before he could get a word in, the phone line was taken over with…. loud, out of tune singing.

_“I'm swimming in a sea of pee, I'm hiking up a big mountain of poo, I feel like rolling in glass when I'm without you. I'm diving in a pool of puke. I'm fly fishing a stream of puss. That's how I feel when something separates us.”_

Asami looked at his phone with an eyebrow quirked, wondering if he was hearing things before letting out a chuckle, he wasn’t hearing things.

It was just Wildcat’s way of telling Asami that he missed his _boyfriend._ Asami chuckled a little more. Boyfriend, so amusing.

Another voice entered the phone conversation now, and Asami gripped the phone harder, pissed his phone call would be interrupted yet again.

 _“Oi oi oi, bossman, get off your phone, don’t sing to people you muppet!”_ came the gruff male voice.

 _“NO! I’m talking to Sexy Dragon! Piss off Axel.”_ He heard Wildcat shout. Well, maybe their conversations being interrupted wasn’t so bad after all, Asami barked a laugh, Sexy Dragon? And his Wildcat was just referred to as boss in a round about way.

_“Haha sorry boss, but we’re all ready to go back to the estate, surely you’d like to talk to your boyfee there instead of here?”_

_“Oh…. Good point. What would I do without you Axel!”_ The blonde’s voice spoke into the phone once more. _“I’ll call you back real real reeeeal soon, I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”_ The voice was pleading, and coupled with the drunken slur, it was adorable, so Asami couldn’t help but go with it.

“Fufu, alright then, I’ll talk to you soon.”

The phone connection went dead once more, and Asami couldn’t stop chuckling as he went to get himself a drink and wait for the inevitable phone call to come.

He’d learnt some interesting things that he planned on teasing the boy with when he was sober.

 

* * *

 

 

Fina-fucking-ly! They’d taken their coach bus that back to the Arbatov estate outside of Moscow, most of the men were still having a few beersies in the rumpus room on Akihito’s floor, intending to absolutely written off, but he’d left his rowdy troop in favor of heading back to his quarters and flopping down on his bed, after locking his door this time.

Ain’t no fucking Mikhail or anyone going to interrupt him now.

He got comfortable against his headboard as he rung Sexy Dragon.

 _“Finally have some time for me hmmm?”_ the oh so sexy voice rumbled.

“I sowi! I can sing you another song?!” he pleaded.

_“Oho, that’s quite alright, cute boy. How about your tell your boyfriend about yourself?”_

Akihito’s eyes lit up, and he might have let out a little squeal, happy that Sexy Dragon wasn’t grumpy with him after all, he missed the man’s mocking tone in his drunken glee.

“Alright, what you wanna know Mr sexy bum?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

This was turning out to be a productive night for Asami, he’d killed off a few pests, obtained a very nice photograph, and now he had Wildcat right where he wanted him.

His spitfire was plastered, and utterly adorable, Asami was going to make him spill everything.

“Tell me who you are.” Asami got straight to his main agenda.

 _“That’s an easy one! I’m the pretty prince of parties, you’re a tasty piece of pastry. You’re so lighty flighty flakey, I go where the party takes me. Do do do dooo”_ The verbal instrumental continued until Wildcat trailed off, giggling.

Well, Asami wasn’t expecting that. He’d try another approach.

“Come on baby boy, tell me please.” He put as much honey in his voice as he could.

 _“I'm the mother flippin' Rhymenocerous. My beats are fat and the birds are on my back. And I'm horny, I’m horny!”_ the boy continued rapping, trying to sound gangster in his stupor but he got tongue tied halfway and changed his tune to a high, awkward falsetto, and sung the most random words Asami would probably ever hear.

 _“I had a budgie but it died, woah oh, I like pie!....... I’ll never get, I’ll never get to be with ya, I’ll never get to share another cuppa tea with ya._ _Never get to let you know how much I think of ya, I'll never get to tear your clothes off on the photo copier ”_

It seemed the hellion could play the game even when stone-faced drunk.

Asami would have to play the same game.

“And why can’t we have another cuppa tea hmm?” he asked, mildly annoyed his plan was backfiring.

 _“Cos of who I aaaammmm! No more cuppa teas for meee!”_ the drunk complained.

“And who are you?” Asami asked again.

 _“You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!”_ blondie slurred.

“You can tell me anything, my cute boy” Asami urged.

_“You suuure you wanna know?”_

“I’m sure, so just tell me.” This was the hardest negotiation Asami had ever faced.

There was a long pause, and a sigh into the phone.

 _“I’m batmaaaaan!”_ came the hissed answer.

 

With that answer, Asami gave up on getting answers. He wouldn’t get anything out of the blonde tonight.

He hung up, frustrated.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

“Oh nooooo, he hung up!” Akihito whined in his room.

Maybe he didn’t like Flight Of The Concords? No, that just wasn’t possible, everyone liked them. Everyone.

It had to be something else, maybe he was in disbelief that Akihito was batman?

Dammit, he’d have to sing him another song.

He called back quickly.

 

* * *

 

Asami contemplated not answering the phone, but that would be too much like he was sulking, and he wasn’t sulking, he was just sure that his plan would have worked.

Wildcat was an infuriating, stubborn, incredibly cute drunk.

The cute still overwhelmed the infuriating part, so he answered the phone.

 _“You're so beautiful  like a… tree, or a high-class prostitute. You're so beautiful  Mmm, you could be a part-time model. But you still might have to keep your normal job.”_ The hellion hummed a little more, before finishing his song, if it could be called that, and spoke properly to Asami.

 _“Don’t hang uuuup pleaaase! Just talk to me!”_ he sounded genuinely upset.

Asami took a deep breath, calming himself.

“What would you like to talk about then, batman?”

_“Shh, you have to keep that secret! How was your day?”_

It was normal conversation at least, so Asami told him how his day went in a vague way, and they talked about small things for the next half hour, the blonde asking silly questions like shoe sizes and favorite foods when suddenly.

 _“Uh oh! Hang on a sec!”_ he heard the sound of thumping footsteps, and then the unmistakable noise of Wildcat spewing his guts out somewhere distant to the phone.

 _“Woah, when did I have corn?!”_ came the surprised remark after a few moments, followed by the sound of a toilet flushing.

Asami wasn’t sure whether to be grossed out, or amused at the fact that the young man couldn’t hold his grog.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Akihito made his way back to the phone, wiping his mouth after gargling some mouth wash, he hadn’t sobered up at all, damn vodka hung around in his system like flies to shit.

How fucking embarrassing, Sexy Dragon probably heard him spew his ring out, least he made it to the toilet though….

“I’m baaaack, sorry bout thatttt.” he said into the phone.

 _“Fufu, are you alright little boy? Can’t hold your drink?”_ came the deep chuckle.

“Hey, no mocking Mr A.R. I’m a big boy.” Akihito spat. Hmmmm, A.R.

Akihito hadn’t spent much time thinking about those initials, but under the influence of alcohol was always the best time to ponder things like mysteries of the universe.

“A.R.” He repeated into the phone again, thinking. The man was still chuckling.

“Ohmigod….. A. fucking R.”

 _“What is it?”_ the man asked, tense at Akihito’s panicked tone.

Akihito was going to visit someone called A.R next week too.

Asami Fucking Ryuichi. The most dangerous man in Asia.

Sexy Dragon….. A.R. Asami Ryuichi. Holy fucking shit balls.

The realization hit him like a sack of old cow shit, sending his already hazed mind into drunken oblivion. He couldn’t hear Sexy Dragon, no, Asami Ryuichi calling for him as he passed out on the pillows.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

* * *

 

Asami hung the phone up after a few minutes at the sound of the boy’s soft breathing, he’d clearly passed out after what sounded like an epiphany, but before Asami could figure out what had happened, Wildcat went comatose on him.

He would contact him in the morning, in the meantime Asami had some things himself to think about.

Wildcat had been referred to as boss. Now that he was extremely curious about. Boss of what? He would put money on it that it wasn’t lawful.

The next thing was Wildcat called him Sexy Dragon to someone called Axel, he chuckled at that.

People had called Wildcat ‘Aki’, nickname or full name, he wondered.

Either way, overhearing a few tidbits of conversation had been useful after all, even if said conversations interrupted them.

Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough, he’d never wanted to learn about anyone this much before.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Akihito woke up the next morning, his eyes stinging and his head pounding, he was fully dressed on top of his bed, and his phone was still in his hand.

His mouth was dry, and it tasted like day old ass, ugh. Fucking vodka, whose idea was it anyway? He didn’t remember.

He racked his brains for details, he was going to punish the fucker who thought vodka was a good idea.

He still couldn’t remember, he couldn’t remember much from the previous night, actually.

Something must have happened though, because his phone had an alert on it.

A text from Sexy Dragon. Hmmmm. He felt something niggle in the back of his mind at the thought of the person, but it was all a haze.

Sexy Dragon: _‘How is your head this morning batman?’_

Batman? Dafuq, the man must have lost his marbles.

‘It’s fan-fucking-tastico, thanks for asking. Batman?’ he pushed send, wracking his brains all the more, while rolling around on his bed in self induced agony.

Thank fuck he had the day off today, it felt like someone opened his head up and poured acid in his skull cavity.

He floundered off the bed, kicking his boots off that were still on, and searched for clean clothes that didn’t smell like alcohol and ciggies.

Ugh. Just ugh.

He wanted to spend all day wallowing in the darkness of his room, but days off didn’t come often, so maybe he’d take an air horn and wake all the fuckers up that would be passed out in the rumpus room and take them to shoot some shit up at the bomb range back of the estate.

They had a full armory at the estate, he’d be able to find a few rocket propelled grenade launchers and some petrol for an extra large bang. Oho, that sounded like a fucking rad day off to him.

Yes, blowing shit up with a hangover was great idea, he’d do it once he fed himself something that would clog his arteries, the cook always had Akihito’s favorites on hand.

He was so looking forward to making all his men shit themselves with an air horn, they were crazy bastards, but that was why he loved them all, they were like a big childish mobster family. And even with his thumping headache and nausea, he smiled at the day to come.

 

 

Slipping on sweat pants and a sweater, he went back to the batman conundrum, and flicked through his phone for clues, cringing at all the outgoing calls to Sexy Dragon.

God, what would his texts be like, he should have given Axel his phone for the night.

Oh hell no…. he text him about his ass, granted it was nice, but he’d called it delish, fucking delish! Who says that?!

The next one, dang it, he would have come off as a needy bastard. Akihito was NOT needy. He was just a needy drunk, and there was a difference.

The third one made him want to crawl under his messy bed covers and never come out.

The dreaded drunken selfie, the _only_ thing that fucking saved him from burying himself, was that he wasn’t doing that ridiculous duck face that all the girls did.

“Fuck my life.” he cursed to himself.

He felt all humility leave his body as his phone rung, there was no way in hell that man was ringing him right now, not with this headache.

“Nnnnngh, what?” he answered, unconsciously in English.

 _“Now is that a way to say good morning to your boyfriend Aki?”_ the man said in lilted English, his amusement evident.

Akihito felt like he’d been smacked upside the head with a rotten sea bass, the man spoke English _and_ he called him Aki, but the most messed up thing…. Boyfriend, what the? Maybe he was still drunk? That was entirely possible.

“You’re not my fucking boyfriend, you’ve lost it, old fart.” He sputtered.

_“Fufu, that’s not what you claimed last night, you wouldn’t go back on your word would you?”_

“Fucking oath I would!” Akihito spat.

 _“That’s too bad, because I won’t let you do that, you’re mine now.”_ That voice sounded so fucking confident that he didn’t even want to deny it.

“Ugh, whyyy is this happening to me right now?” he threw himself back on the bed and mumbled into his pillows, the chuckle he got in response was humiliating.

“What else did I wrack up on the bill of shame?” Akihito asked wearily.

 _“Oho, your drunken songs were so cute. And you called me Sexy Dragon, among other things to do with my ass.”_ The man really was having a good laugh on Akihito’s account.

“Shit, it’s a nice ass okay!…. What else?” Akihito wanted the earth to open up and devour him at this point.

 _“People call you bossman, and your name, Aki? Who’s Axel?”_ came the questions

“Nnn, my first name is Akihito. I don’t like when people call me Aki except if it’s my brother. Axel is my…. Best friend.” He avoided the boss part, which would lead too close to the other half of his name. Axel _was_ his best friend, so that wasn’t lying exactly.

 _“Well, that’s better than Batman or whatever else you were spouting last night. Akihito, hmmm. That’s Japanese, but you’re European.”_ He sounded curious.

“Oh dammit, did I really say that? Ah yeah, my old man had this fascination for Japan and called me ‘bright’ in Japanese. Who calls their kid fucking bright, seriously.” Akihito huffed on the bed, why couldn’t he have a cool name like Mikhail.

 _“Akihito. A. Hmm. It suits you… you said he had?”_ the man questioned the past tense Akihito used about his dad.

“The parents are both dead, killed in…. warfare when I was young.”

Akihito didn’t know why, he didn’t like talking about his parents, but the words slipped out so easily while talking to this particular person, and he didn’t feel one bit awkward about it.

 _“It happens.”_ Came the understanding statement.

“It does.” Akihito agreed, pleased the man hadn’t gone all sympathetic on him. “Fuck, this is a sunny topic to talk about with a banging hangover isn’t it?” Akihito laughed at the situation.

 _“I’m finding it quite interesting actually, you were the one asking all the questions last night, so now it’s my turn.”_ Was the nonchalant reply.

“I was?”

 _“You were.”_ Sexy Dragon confirmed.

“Aaaagh fuck a duck, I don’t remember! Don’t laugh dickhead, it’s not funny. I bet you told me heaps of juicy shit too.” Akihito whined in frustration.

_“Oh I did, I told you everything, Akihito.”_

He suppressed a shiver as the man purred his name, it sounded so good in the tone of his velvety voice.

“You’re lying.” Akihito shot back, trying to convince himself more than anything.

_“Fufu, you’ll never know.”_

“Gah! Stop teasing bastard!” Akihito cried into the phone.

He desperately tried to remember the previous night, but he only saw tidbits of the club and that was it. Dagnabit!

 

* * *

 

Asami sat alone in his office, greatly enjoying teasing Wildcat, no, Akihito, who was sulking on the other end.

It was a little payback for last night, at least. Oh the things he was going to do to Akihito for all he’d put Asami through, no one had ever teased or frustrated Asami like Akihito had last night, all the while being unbearably cute.

“Tell me more.” He urged, after the blonde stopped huffing in his frustration.

He almost thought that perhaps he’d fallen asleep again, until finally the silence was broken.

_“Shit…. I really shouldn’t be doing this.”_

Asami tensed at the conflicted tone.

“Doing what?”

_“This thing, whatever the hell it is, but fuck I’m pretty sure I couldn’t stop myself even if I tried…. You’re like some crazy drug I’ve never had before.”_

“Oho, is that a confession?” Asami found he liked a hungover Akihito who was surprisingly straightforward.

 _“It’s an ‘I think you’re alright’ confession, so shut your perfect mouth and fucking accept it ok, and stop side tracking me…..”_ he trailed off for a few moments, and Asami just waited, knowing there was something more coming.

 _“I’m passing through Tokyo sometime next week, we’ll do the whole exchange of personal bullshit then…. if you’re up for getting all domestic and boring.”_ Asami couldn’t help his increasing heart rate at the thought of seeing Akihito again.

“I’m up for it, and trust me, you won’t get bored, Akihito.” He drawled back.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Akihito felt relief when Sexy Dragon said he was up for it, he’d put himself out there, for the first time in a long time, he didn’t even really know why. He trusted what the man said about not getting bored, Sexy Dragon was getting _more_ exciting and interesting as the days went by, not less, and this was only the tip of the giant ice burg, he was sure.

It was fucking dangerous, for him _and_ Sexy Dragon, dragging people into his world was selfish, the man might be into some small league crap, it was likely, but mixing him up with the name Arbatov was asking for trouble.

Then there was the added nuisance of his brother and Yuri, the only person they tolerated close to him was Feilong of all people. Fuck, he _really_ shouldn’t be doing this.

 _“I’ll pick you up from the airport.”_ well, that was a very boyfriend like thing to say, he couldn’t help but snicker.

“Aha nooo, no that’s fine, I’ll just flick you a text when I’m free. We can meet at Dracaena again.” God, it wouldn’t be the best start if Sexy Dragon saw him get off a huge private jet with a bunch of mean looking men, followed Mikhail and Yuri no less, then also explaining that he was second in command to one of the biggest crime families in the world, fuck that would just go super!

‘Hi, I’m Akihito Arbatov, a drug and firearms trafficker that kills and tortures people on an almost daily basis, and I kind of like it. Also, this is my over protective big brother who is lord of everything illegal and he will probably kill you when I’m not looking.’

His inner monologue confirmed that wasn’t a good idea.

In fact, it was the worst fucking idea of all, worse than putting fireworks in cow shit. He cringed at the memory, never stand too close to exploding cow pats, he could still taste the shit that flew into his mouth and all over his face, Mikhail thought it was hilarious though.

His thoughts came back to the moment when the man spoke.

_“Alright then and Akihito?”_

“Ah.. yeah?” he stiffened at the mention of his name.

 _“Don’t think I’ll let you get away a second time.”_ It was a definite threat, and it only excited Akihito all the more.

“Haha! Possessive bastard aren’t ya? Give it your best shot then, but you’ll fail miserably old man.”

 _“Oh I will, once I’m done, you wont be able to walk, let alone get away from me.”_ Rumbled the assertive voice.

The promise sounded so damn good, Akihito couldn’t help the groan that escaped him as his morning wood returned with a vengeance.

 _“You like my voice that much hmm?”_ the man rumbled again.

Yes, he liked his voice that much, it was ridiculous how much he fucking liked it.

The man definitely was a drug, a dangerous new drug that did strange things to his body and sense of reason, and fuck it, and he was addicted.

 

* * *

 

 

This was ridiculous, Asami was sitting at his desk at Sion talking to Akihito, and with only a few words he felt the blood start rushing to his groin, stoking the fire of his libido like only this person could.

There was no way he was letting Akihito out of his clutches once he got his hands on him in one weeks time.

 _“Yes, keep talking.”_ Came the breathy whisper.

“Hmmm, I don’t think I will, not when you left me hanging last night after that photo you sent.” Asami set the bait, hoping Akihito would take it.

 _“Come onnn, I’ll send you another photo?”_ he practically moaned, and Asami rubbed his pants as the bulge became more apparent, reacting to the desperate words.

Akihito took the bait though, it was perfect, he’d get the pleasure of listening to the boy come undone on the phone, and a photo afterwards for Asami’s enjoyment, it would tide him over for a week until he got the real thing.

His heart was thumping with anticipation, he was excited at the thought of getting off in his office while talking to his person. No one ever made him want to do such things before, but with this person he couldn’t help it, everything was new and fresh, and Asami was hooked.

He pushed the remote button that would lock his office door and bar access to everyone while he continued his litany, grabbing a few tissues and undoing his belt and zipper quickly after.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Akihito couldn’t remember if he’d locked his door last night, but sure as anything he would shoot any piece of shit that came in right now if he hadn’t.

He slipped his free hand underneath the band of his briefs, his breath catching in his throat as he gripped his aching member and massaged the head with his thumb, using his own juices to slick his length.

 _“What do you want me to say Akihito? Do you want me to tell you how hard I am for you right now? How I’m sitting at work, stroking myself, wishing it was your tight ass gripping my dick?”_ the man spoke low and huskily, his breathing a little louder than before.

The seducing words went straight to his cock, and Akihito flattened out on the bed, panting as thrust his hips into his hand, he closed his eyes and let the man’s voice overwhelm him.

“aaah yes… don’t stop.” He managed between breaths.

 _“Oh, once I get my hands on you, I won’t ever stop Akihito. That’s what you want isn’t it?”_ he accentuated Akihito’s name with danger and lust, a combination that had Akihito arching his back up into his steadily pumping hand.

“Nnnn, fuck, say it again. My name.” he practically whimpered, but it didn’t matter as long as the man kept saying his name.

 

* * *

 

 

Asami shifted in his desk chair, giving him better access to grip his shaft, which was aching with a very real desire to fuck the boy hard into the next century, he stroked slowly, up and down, as he listened to Akihito unravel, whining and moaning, along with the steady movement of rustling fabric.

“You like hearing your name off my lips Akihito?” he teased.

 _“Oh, so fucking much. Just keep saying it.”_ Came the desperate plea.

“Akihito.” Asami whispered.

He moved his hand a little faster, and gripped a little tighter from the moan he got in response. It sounded so delicious, he wanted to ravage the mouth that was making all those sweet noises.

_“M-more.”_

“Mmm Akihito.” Asami groaned as his Wildcat kept begging for more, he desperately jerked his weeping dick, so close to the edge, the need burning inside him.

 

* * *

 

 

Oh my fucking lord of all orgasms, Akihito had never liked the sound of his own name this much in his life, but hearing that man groan, yes _groan_ it, and the accompanying creak of te mawas like a fucking symphony for his dick.

He rolled onto his side, curling in on himself as he pulled desperately, losing rhythm and breath as he got closer, he just needed to hear his name one more time…

“Fuck… pleeaaase.” He was only mildly aware of how much he was begging for it.

 _“Oh Akihito”_ The man growled his name in between shallow breaths.

“Ah, yesssss” Akihito cried as the burning feeling of release washed over him, turning his muscles to jelly and losing all sense of awareness as he came all over himself.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Asami was transfixed as he heard the boy lose it over the phone, crying out the pleasure that Asami gave him just by saying his name.

It was so intoxicating knowing that he could make the boy beg, make him feel so good just over the phone, what was unexpected was that Akihito could do the same to him.

_“Ah, yesssss.”_

Asami drove his hips out of his chair, into his hand and came long and hard, the weak tissues not enough to stop his release from spurting all over his vest and suit jacket, not that he noticed in his high, the pleasure racking his bones as he hummed his release.

 

 

Like the first time, it took a few moments for both men to come around, the sound of breathing all that was heard for the next few minutes as both of them gathered their coherency.

_“Oh my hangover is cured…”_

Asami chuckled at the offhand exclamation, the switch in mood not awkward in the least, it felt right, and Asami wasn’t used to such a feeling.

“Fufu, that’s good, I’m glad I could help.”

_“I’m glad you could too, ugh I need to go and shower.”_

* * *

 

 

Akihito pulled his sticky hand out from his briefs, he’d come so hard that it was all over his stomach and sweater, and all through his pants, his response to Sexy Dragon’s voice was that intense.

_“Mmm yes and I need to go clean myself up, I made a mess listening to your lewd noises.”_

“Haha, glad I could help.” Akihito mocked.

 _“Oho, shut up brat. Don’t forget you promised me another photo.”_ The man reminded him of what Akihito bargained earlier.

“You’ll get your photo old man, don’t have a heart attack when you see it. I’ll text you later kay?” he snickered, thinking of ideas for photos.

 _“Okay, Akihito?”_ came the questioning tone.

“Yeah?”

_“I look forward to seeing you again.”_

Akihito could tell it was genuine, he said it so matter of fact that it was hard to believe otherwise.

“Me too.”

Without any more words that needed to be said, they ended the call.

 

Akihito sighed as he thought about the implications of what he was doing and got up to make his way to the bathroom that was off his living quarters to shower.

He was in too deep to back out now, and he knew it.

Flicking the shower on extra hot, he undressed and stepped under the blasting stream, letting it sluice away the vestiges of last night, and the mess from this morning.

Letting the steam clear his head, he thought about how he was going to deal with the shit storm of problems that would pop up from the result of his one night stand.

 

 

* * *

 

Thankfully Asami kept a spare change in his office, granted it was more for if he got blood on his suit or if he smelt too much like gunpowder, but now he’d found another reason to keep spare suits in places.

Not once had someone sparked his desire enough that he’d wanted to get himself off in his office, or in his limo, or anywhere.

He knew from his previous encounter with Akihito, from the way they’d practically attacked each other the moment the hotel door shut, that it would be the same in real life.

He’d do it with Akihito almost anywhere, anytime, and they both knew it, all it would take was one spark for the fire to ignite and quickly turn wild.

It was exhilarating.

 

After dressing in the bathroom off of his office and washing up, he returned to his desk to see that his phone already had a message from Akihito on it.

The corner of his lip curled as he picked it up remembering the photo he was promised.

He sat down as he opened the message, the air sucked from his lungs as his pupils narrowed on the screen, his erection coming back full force.

“Fuck.” He breathed.

The photo was much better than he expected.

There was Akihito standing in a lavish marble bathroom, his skin shining wet with a towel draped around his neck, a hand running through his wet blonde hair while he looked into the camera, right at Asami.

If it were just that it wouldn’t have been that bad, the angle didn’t go down far enough to show all of Akihito’s body, but it was the fact that he’d taken it with his back to the mirror.

In the huge mirror’s reflection was a full view of Akihito’s toned back and lightly sculpted ass, the skin flawless and dripping from his shower.

“Fuck.” He breathed again.

He vaguely registered how massive the bathroom was from what he saw in the mirrors reflection, marble tiles from floor to ceiling and a massive cast iron bath with traditional claws feet along with a shower that had two waterfall shower heads, it was all tasteful and luxurious.

It spoke of wealth, but that was the last thing Asami was thinking of right now.

All his attention was on the person in the photo.

He stared at the photo for god knows how long, until the buzzer to his office sounded, snapping him out of his reverie as Kirishima asked if he could come in.

Damn Kirishima.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The week went painfully slow for Akihito after his day off, he’d kept occupied that day with Axel and all the others, they’d all separated into teams and played paintball after they blew up a few old cars at the bomb range.

Of course the team of Akihito, Axel, Vlad and Kristof won every single game of paintball, until Mikhail got word and came down to play with Yuri and his top men, which meant it got serious, each commander coordinating with his team to capture the flag in the middle of the course.

It took all day, and turned into a tactical game that meant both brothers had to strategize and treat it like a real life situation.

In the end Mikhail and his men won, his life experience and the synchronicity of his team just tipping the scales, Akihito was happy with how close it was though.

It meant him and his men were coming closer to being the perfect team they all strived to be.

If it was one thing the Arbatov’s were famous for apart from their crazy attitudes, it was the relationship they had with their men.

They all shared bonds thicker then blood, they were family until death, and then they would be mourned and avenged as family.

That was just a few of the reasons that the Arbatov’s reigned supreme.

 

Akihito barked a laugh as he remembered shooting Mickey clean in the grill of his paintball helmet, splatting the paint through the small holes and into this brother’s mouth. Payback for the exploding cow shit incident.

God, he was trying to think of anything that would make the time go faster, they were heading for the jet any minute now, and time had all but fucking stopped god dammit.

He’d done all his jobs and tasks quick smart this week and kept a tight leash on all businesses, anything to keep busy, anything to make the time pass.

Anything to keep his mind off the fact that he would be seeing Sexy Dragon again soon.

“Bossman, you ready to head out?” Axel peeped his head in the door, indicating it was finally time to get on the fucking plane and go to Japan.

“You betcha.” He slung his backpack over his shoulder and followed Axel out of the mansion, other men joining as they walked the halls.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Asami wasn’t usually this irritable, but Akihito was due to be arriving any day now, and the last thing he wanted to be doing at the moment was sitting in the back of his limo on the way to the air port to greet Mikhail and his brother as formality dictated.

The only reason he was really on edge was because Akihito still hadn’t told him what day he was coming, and he wouldn’t be happy if it coincided with Mikhail’s visit.

He didn’t even need that special favor from Mikhail now that Akihito was coming to back to him out of his own free will, the entire meeting was pretty much pointless to Asami.

Nevertheless, it was happening, so he would deal with it properly as he should, he would meet with Mikhail and his younger brother to make sure business between them would continue to be strong, to assess the younger Arbatov and confirm that he was a capable person to deal with when the situation arose.

“Kirishima, do you have the file on the younger Arbatov on you?” He asked his secretary, he supposed he should read up on the young man’s exploits and achievements first.

“Yes Asami sama, I figured you’d want to read it before you met him, so I kept it on hand.”

Suoh, who was in the front passenger seat, passed the folder back to Asami, who leant back and placed the file in his lap.

He lit himself a Dunhill before looking down and raising a perfect eyebrow at the letters A.A on the front.

“Surely not.” He muttered to himself.

He took a long drag of his cigarette as he opened the folder and set his eyes on the data.

Name: Akihito Arbatov.

Age: 23.

Status: Second in command to Mikhail Arbatov.

Own Territories: South America, United Kingdom, Korea.

 

Asami eyes stayed fixed on the paper, his Dunhill forgotten, just as he’d forgotten to breathe as he read further down the page.

 

He read about Akihito Arbatov’s impressive exploits in various countries, Korea, Mongolia, Ukraine, Brazil, Colombia and London, he read about Akihito’s proficiency in dealing with situations without Mikhail’s help, he read about how his men idolized him.

He growled as he read a note from Yoh about Akihito and Feilong kissing on the job, he didn’t like that note one bit, he fucking hated that note actually, it was dated only a week after he met Akihito, and for that he loathed it more.

Moving on, devouring every last piece of information, he read about how ruthless Akihito was when it came to traitors and people talking down on their family name.

 

As the limo pulled onto the private runway at the airport, he read about his undying loyalty to his boss, his older brother, Mikhail Arbatov.

“Well, that was unexpected.” He mused aloud.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Madness, madness everywhere!

 All credit for home skillet goes to coritos XD

 

* * *

 

 

 

Asami still struggled to believe it as he sat in the limo waiting for the Russians to touch down, though the likelihood of there being two Europeans with the same initials, with the first name being Akihito, was slim to none.

 

Asami could even place a timeline on their communications with information in the dossier.

The day after their first phone call was the day Yoh first reported on Akihito, finishing off six traitors himself before he left and decimated the Mongolians, killing a large portion of them with his own hands.

After that was when Asami had face timed him, when he looked tired and murderous at the same time, and also when they’d been interrupted by his brother, which Asami now knew to be Mikhail.

It was Mikhail’s hand that had waved at him through the camera, it was Mikhail’s laughter he heard, and it was Mikhail that dumped paperwork on Akihito’s chest.

Asami barked a laugh at the fact that he had been thinking about asking Mikhail of all people, to run his little brother’s number for information. The reason he couldn’t get info on Akihito’s number in the first place was _because_ he was Mikhail’s little brother.

 

The day that they had been texting about guns was when he’d sent Kirishima to Korea to work with Mikhail’s second, Akihito.

Akihito, who had taken control of Korea in one day, and was the one who’d taken the photo of Mr Lee that Asami had on his phone.

Akihito was the one Kirishima reported on, the report that brought Asami genuine mirth because of how beautifully brutal and original it had been. He still laughed at the thought of cutting off someone’s fingers and then making them write a note.

 

Akihito, Wildcat, who Kirshima labeled as bat shit crazy, was not only Mikhail’s second, but a ruthless crime boss in his own right with territories of his own.

Asami still failed to believe that the easy going blonde with the perfect teeth and bright eyes, infectious smile and ripe body, the person who he’d heard moan on the phone, was a person capable of all in the dossier, for someone who was only 23, it was an impressive dossier, but to be expected of an Arbatov son though.

And therein lay Asami’s new dilemma, his attraction increased ten fold as he comprehended that Wildcat was _this_ much of a live wire, untamed and truly dangerous to boot, someone who could actually hold his own against Asami, someone who could defy him and walk away, because he was Akihito Arbatov.

A man always wanted what he couldn’t have, and that was true before he got hold of the dossier, he was actually interested in the young man, but now he wanted it so much he had to calm himself down, his instincts to possess and own threatening to overwhelm him.

This was going to be fun, Asami Ryuichi’s blood pumped furiously in his veins as he exited the limo, his little game with Akihito just got a whole lot more exciting, and he only hoped that the blonde would keep playing once he himself figured it out.

 

 

*****

 

 

“Akihito you sleepy shit, wake the fuck up, the plane is landed.” There was no such thing as a gentle prod to wake him up when it came to Mikhail, it was just a straight slap to the face or a bucket of cold water. This time it was a slap, which echoed throughout the aircraft cabin.

“Nnn, whaa?” Akihito mumbled.

“We’ve touched down, sort your shit out, you look like the love child of a tumbleweed and a birds nest, it’s embarrassing to be related to you right now.” Mikhail gave him one more slap for good measure, before proceeding to rough Akihito up with play punches and an attempted noogie.

“Alright, alright! I’m awake god dammit Mickey!” Akihito kicked at his brother’s stomach, sending the larger blonde back a step, away from Akihito’s flat recliner, “five more fucking minutes couldn’t have hurt, prick.” Akihito grumbled, as he ran a hand through his hair, not that he cared what he looked like, stood up and slipped on a tight black dress jacket over his holsters and plain white tee, with his favored v-neck.

At least he didn’t have to worry about what guns he had in his holsters now that Mikhail knew one of his was missing.

Sexy Dragon’s black Colt was plain enough that no one would question where he got it, so it was on his person all the time now.

It felt right.

 

“Uuuugh! I hate all this formal bullshit.” Akihito followed Mikhail down the landing steps onto the tarmac, with Yuri, Axel, Vlad and Kristof following close behind, the rest of the men were sorting out luggage and securing the plane.

“It’s only this part that’s plain and boring, Asami requested we come for a visit so everyone could be officially acquainted, we’ll be going for dinner and drinks after we’ve settled into our hotel, so don’t get ants in your fucking pants alright, douche bag.”

“Knob jockey.” Akihito shot back, with a shove to Mikhail’s shoulder.

“Ass pirate.” Mikhail retorted, with a shove of his own.

“Cock munch.”

“Ahem…” Yuri interrupted the childish banter as they drew closer to the three tall Japanese figures waiting for them in front of a black limo, Akihito, wanting to get the last blow in, punched Mikhail hard, shoving him off to the side and jumping away as Mikhail tried to wrap his arms around him and bring him into a grapple, the pair were laughing at one another, and old uncle Yuri just pinched the bridge of his nose with an exasperated sigh.

“Owww Akihito, you hurt your big brother.” Mikhail feigned a whine and jutted his bottom lip out, rubbing his arm.

“Oh take a concrete pill and harden the fuck up Mickey.” Akihito poked his tongue out, and from his left he heard a deep rumbling chuckle, an amazing sound he was positive he’d heard before.

 

Akihito had landed right in front of the man standing in the middle when he jumped away from Mikhail, whom he’d failed to look at in the midst of his ruckus with his brother, he didn’t really give a shit about the guy to be honest, he was only here because Mikhail wanted him to be, he wouldn’t fail Mikhail, and to see Sexy Dragon, of course.

 

He turned to regard the man, about to extend a hand for greeting as he should, but when he registered the playful smirk on sinful lips, and amusement dance in golden eyes that he knew so well, he muttered a small “Oh” before he threw his head back and burst into outright laughter.

 

Akihito remembered it all now, he remembered that Sexy Dragon was Asami fucking Ryuichi, King of Asia.

Here the man was, standing before him with his revoltingly perfect hair, that chiseled jaw, those broad shoulders, muscled chest, muscled fucking everything actually, and long legs with something heaven sent in between them, this man was danger made living.

 

He should have fucking known only someone _this_ powerful could make his heart race like this, to think he’d labeled him as some small time crime boss. Pfffft. Akihito you fucking noob, he thought to himself.

 

It was just too good, this entire situation was just fucking comical, the reason he was coming to Japan was to meet Asami Ryuichi, he thought it a bonus that he’d get to see Sexy Dragon again at the same time, only for them to be the same fucking person….

The. Same. Person.

He didn’t know what they were now, but he’d referred to Asami Ryuchi as his fucking _boyfriend_.

He chuckled, and sniggered, he snickered and chortled, holy shit, it was just hilarious. Movies were made of this sort of ironic crap.

This one would be a box office hit.

 

It was hilarious because he’d told Sexy Dragon not to pick him up from the air port, because the thought to Akihito then was akin to putting fire crackers in cow shit, messy and stupid, a really fucking bad idea, but here he found himself anyway, Asami Ryuichi was picking him up from the fricken air port.

 

The firework was in the goddam cow pattie, whether he liked it or not. If Mikhail found out, the shit would explode and cover everyone.

 

Life just got a whole lot more interesting, and he had no idea what to do for one of the first times in his life.

 

 

Asami watched as Mikhail and Akihito exchanged expletives coming towards them, well he didn’t watch Mikhail as such.

He watched Akihito, there was no one else on the tarmac to Asami, it really was him.

It was no mistake, that smile and those sparkling eyes were right in front of him, that limber body, perfectly show cased in a well fitted jacket with a v neck that showed his toned chest.

Black jeans that hugged in all the right places, with black boots that were suited for Russian terrain and weather.

Fuck, he was perfect. Calm down, Asami.

He continued watching as their uncle tried to reign them in, only to fail miserably.

Seeing him laugh and play with his Mikhail, his brother, was nearly too much, he was reminded once again why he went to his hotel with this person in the first place. Calm down, Asami.

 

He had to laugh himself at a clever remark about a concrete pill after a particularly good jab to Mikhail’s shoulder, Akihito sure had a way with words, his tongue in cheek attitude was so refreshing, everything was so refreshing.

Calm down, Asami.

He waited until those bright eyes heard his laughter and turned to face him at last, meeting him in the eyes.

Akihito’s narrowed on him for a split second, before comprehension lined his features with a small mutter of realization.

His face quickly turned into a grin as he looked at Asami, and then he watched as Akihito threw his head back and laughed at the sky with all the mirth in the world.

Asami understood perfectly why he was laughing.

 

He laughed for quite a while, everyone was staring at him, behind Asami, Kirishima shifted nervously before tugging on Asami’s elbow and murmuring, “Asami sama, I told you he wasn’t quite right in the head.”

Asami chuckled at his secretary’s ignorance, oh if he only knew, actually, if Kirishima knew, he would probably have an aneurysm.

 

“The fuck are you laughing at, shithead?” Mikhail cuffed Akihito behind the ear, breaking off the laughter and turning it into stifled giggles.

Asami was looking forward to hearing this answer.

“Haha, ahhhh, I just remembered something really fucking funny is all… Don’t mind me.” Akihito took deep calming breaths to get a hold of himself.

“What is it that had you near pissing your pants that was so funny huh? You need Ritalin again?” Mikhail teased, though he still wanted an answer, and Akihito had the perfect one.

“Heh, you remember that time you made me put that fizzler in cow shit down the back paddock after a few drinks?” Akihito wiped the amused tears away from his eyes. Behind him, Axel, Vlad and Kristof scoffed at the memory, which had been a fucking epic night.

“……. Seriously?” Mikhail deadpanned the question.

“Haha. Yup”

Another cuff to the back of the head, but Mikhail was laughing also despite himself, Asami was still staring at Akihito, and Suoh and Kirishima just stood open mouthed.

Who put fireworks in cow shit? These Arbatov’s were fucking fruitcakes.

 

“You Muppet, don’t think about that shit now! Ugh, sorry Asami. As you can see, Akihito here needs help.” Mikhail stepped in and shook Asami’s hand in greeting, followed by Suoh and Kirishima.

 

“Hmm I can see that.” Asami said, hiding his own smile.

Akihito tsked under his breath at the ‘needs help’ remark, I’ll show them who needs help, he thought to himself.

“Sup homie?” he said to Asami, putting on the most serious face he could muster.

Kirishima stepped forward at the ridiculous manner in which Akihito had addressed his boss, opening his mouth to say something, but Akihito just raised a hand to interrupt, intent on playing the nut job.

“Oh, lighten up homeskillet.”

“…. Homeskillet?” the secretary murmured the words to himself, he was sure Akihito wasn’t this crazy the last time they met.

 

“Haha, Akihito, whatever you’re fucking on, get off it and say hello properly, maggot.” Mikhail laughed at his younger brother’s ridiculousness, he might seem mental, but Mikhail knew what he was capable of.

“Well, that’s what you get for saying I need help, I’m perfectly fucked up, thank you muchly.”

 

“Akihito.” Mikhail warned.

“Alright, alright, sheehs, sorry for party rockin’.” Akihito gave up on the act and held his hand out for a proper greeting.

 

Asami extended his hand to him, and as they shook hands, Akihito looked up and shook his head ever so slightly, indicating to play it cool before introducing himself.

“My name is Akihito Arbatov, pleasure to meet you.” Akihito spoke normally, despite his thundering heart and adrenaline junkie radar pinging like it had just found the mother load.

“The pleasure is mine, Akihito. My name is Asami Ryuichi.” With that, Asami extended his fingers to caress Akihito’s wrist, a small gesture no one could see, but it felt fucking huge to Akihito, that light touch injecting fire into his veins.

 

This was really fucking bad, in finding out Sexy Dragon’s name, he should have wanted to cut things off, he _needed_ to cut things off, but fuck his life if that drug just didn’t get more potent, reeling him and engraving it’s chemical signature into his system, fuck!

Their gazes were locked, and both men did their hardest to school their features as they let go, the handshake lasting a little longer than what was normal.

 

Mikhail noticed the lengthy handshake, trying to understand why his brother and Asami would seem so familiar with each other when this was their first meeting.

He also saw the way Asami looked at Akihito with possession in his eyes for a split second before it fell behind a cool mask of indifference.

 

“Am I missing something?” he asked with a hint of menace, as Akihito went to stand with Axel after saying hello properly to Kirishima and introducing himself to a very skeptical Suoh, who thought there was no way this mental case brat could be responsible for all the stuff in the dossier.

“No, I was merely just assessing your little brother Mikhail. I trust you had a good flight?” Asami diverted the conversation with pleasantries.

Mikhail wasn’t convinced, but the airport wasn’t the best place to have the talk he wanted to have on the subject, so he let it slide until he was alone with Asami. He hoped this wouldn’t be another Feilong situation, especially with someone like Asami.

They talked about nothing in particular for a while until they all agreed to meet later on once the Russian party had settled and rested, Asami got in his limo, and the upper circle of the Russian party got in another, the rest of their men would follow in an envoy Asami had arranged for them.

 

 

 

Akihito let out a breath he’d been holding as he sat in the limo, feeling his heart rate finally slow down and return to normal.

Beside him, Axel looked at him in question, wondering what had his friend and boss so on edge.

Akihito mouthed, ‘I’ll tell you later’ as Mikhail sat down behind them.

Sure as hell Akihito didn’t have a fucking clue what to do, so it was time to enlist the help of Axel, his right hand man and best friend, jeez, he didn’t even know where to start.

The limo started moving and he turned his phone on to check for transport updates.

 

Once the texts came through and he’d told Mikhail everything was running smoothly, he went to put his phone in his pocket….. then it rung, and he knew who it was. Fucking hell.

Sure enough, he glanced at the name Sexy Dragon before swiping and answering.

 

“What?” he spat.

 _“That’s no way to talk to your boyfriend, Akihito Arbatov.”_ Akihito cringed at the remark and chuckle that went with it, so he still wanted to play, did he?

He stayed quiet, there wasn’t really anything he could say with Mikhail in the car that wouldn’t raise suspicion.

 _“Oho, what’s the matter? Can’t talk right now?”_ the amusement was evident in the man’s voice. Fucking bastard.

“You know I can’t.” Akihito replied calmly.

 _“Why? Are you embarrassed of me? Or is it something else?”_ Asami’s voice feigned hurt.

 

Akihito scoffed at the ludicrous question, drawing all eyes in the limo to him, once again he had no answer.

 _“Should I ask Mikhail for his permission then hmmm?”_ came the drawled query.

“It’s your death warrant.” Akihito stated the truth.

_“I will have you, Akihito.”_

“Not happening buddy.”

 _“You’re mine.”_ Asami drawled cooly.

 

“Arrrrgh!” Akihito groaned, fucking frustrating Japanese prick, he hung up, no way he could deal with this right now, not with everyone in the car staring at him like actually had lost his marbles. He was starting to think maybe he had.

 

 

 

*****

 

 

Asami chuckled in delight at the dial tone on his phone, Akihito hung up on him. He could have so much fun with this situation, and he would make sure he got the most out of it.

On the contrary to what Akihito wanted, Asami was fine to reveal the truth of it all, they were together, the word boyfriend used, much to Asami’s amusement still, that would shock everyone, and it was too late for Akihito to say otherwise.

He could deal with Mikhail, he wouldn’t react that badly, surely.

In the mean time though, he would play along with Akihito’s little game of secrecy, and have fun doing it.

 

To say he was looking forward to tonight was an understatement.

 

 

*****

Akihito answered the knock on his hotel room door to let Axel in, who’d come to his room the moment after dropping his bags off in his own suite.

“Axelllllll, what do I dooooo?” Akihito whined to his friend, who had no fucking idea what the bossman was talking about.

“I have no clue what drugs you’re on to make you lose your mind like you did at the air port so you’ll have to fill me in, and then give me some.” the black haired giant flopped down on the bed next to his friend.

“Sexy Dragon is Asami Ryuichi.” Akihito stated, devoid of emotion.

“No, come on seriously….”

“…….”

Axel did a double take at his friend sitting against the headboard, trying to see if this was some sick prank.

Oh fuck, the bossman was serious.

“Fucking hell….” Axel wasn’t often speechless, but this time words just didn’t cut it.

“Pretty much.” Akihito agreed.

“So that guy from Japan last time…? The number we tried to run?” Axel was quick to connect the dots.

“Yep.”

“How the fuck did you not get his name then or the entire fucking month you were talking?!” came the obvious question.

“Ugh…. It was way more fun to not know.” Akihito thought it sounded like a reasonable answer.

“Your version of fun is fucking messed up.” Axel deadpanned.

“I’m starting to think you might be right.”

“I was right when you wrapped that Porsche around a tree in the Swiss Alps… this though, this is way more dangerous, oh fuck! When the big bro finds out Akihito….” Axel didn’t need words for what was to come next.

“You’re not helping Axel.” Akihito slammed a pillow into Axel’s unsuspecting face in answer.

“Haha hey! Do you want my help or not?!” The burly friend yanked the pillow away, throwing it across the room.

Akihito harrumphed and crossed his arms over his chest, he really didn’t know what he wanted.

“You like him?” Axel got straight to the main question.

“God dammit I do.” Akihito spat the answer as if it tasted bad, “but it’s impossible Axel.”

“Hmm, if you think about it though, apart from the big bro, it’s a pretty sweet deal.” Axel mused, thinking things over.

“The fuck you talking about?” he couldn’t possibly think why it would be plausible, let alone a sweet deal.

“Well, it’s not like anyone could take Asami fucking Ryuichi hostage to use against you, you wouldn’t have to keep secrets, shit, you could even tell someone like that about your fucking day and he’d think nothing of it. You could be your proper fucked up self, torture and all.” Axel sure did list off some good points.

 

“Oh… I never thought about that.” Akihito admitted, mulling it over.

“Mikhail though.” His friend reminded him.

“Argh, I know. Shit, no, I don’t know. Just help me keep things under control tonight.” Akihito checked his watch, it was nearly time to head back out.

“Will do boss.”

 

 

*****

 

 

Asami lounged in a private corner in Dracaena while Suoh retrieved his guests for the night, they would be here soon.

He’d planned to host them at Sion, but he couldn’t resist the thought of bringing Akihito back to the place they first met.

He took a drag on his Dunhill trying to think of ways to make tonight extra entertaining, he had a couple of photos he could use against Akihito, text messages too. He also had Akihito’s gun tucked firm in his holster.

“Asami sama, what do you think of Akihito Arbatov?” Kirishima pulled Asami out of his inner thoughts.

“Funny you ask that, Kirishima.”

“Boss?” Kirishima wasn’t sure what Asami meant.

“Kirishima, I like him a lot.”  Asami admitted through puffs of the cigarette in his mouth.

Kirishima’s eyes widened at the statement, something he never heard come from his boss’s mouth. “You don’t mean in that way?”

“Yes in that way.” Asami spoke as if were the most obvious thing on the planet.

Kirishima just stayed quiet, not because he wanted too, but because of the lack of words that wouldn’t come to mind right now, out of all the people his boss could take a fancy too, of course it would be the most unstable one of all. The one that chopped fingers off, he should have known.

Kirishima couldn’t decide whether it was good or bad, it could either solidify the relationship between organizations, or tear it completely apart.

Suoh was going to blow a fuse, he already disliked the ruckus youngster for his display at the airport. He’d mumbled something about shitty little brat in the car all afternoon.

The secretary really hoped tonight would be uneventful.

 

 

*****

 

 

Akihito got out of the limo and barked a sardonic laugh at the building they pulled in front of, Dracaena, fuck Asami had a sick sense of humor. Who would have thought the man could be nostalgic.

He knew it was a bad indicator for things to come. Fucking fireworks in cow shit was such a bad idea, yet here he was standing right next to the giant excrement that was about to blow.

Suoh led them past the line waiting to get in, straight through the front door of the club, ignoring Sudou Shuu, and the surprised look on his face when he saw the hottie blonde from the month before walk in next to Mikhail Arbatov of all people, he had no idea the blonde was that much of an important person to be in the company of Mikhail. Mikhail was so dreamy, according to Sudou.

Axel and Yuri followed their respective bosses into the VIP section, which had been cordoned off.

Vlad, Kristof and one other of Mikhail’s men, Siegfried, were posted on guard duty for the building.

 

Asami stood waiting for them next to a long dining table that had been set up with finger food, Akihito looked at the spread, and cursed inwardly.

All of Akihito’s favorite things were on that damned table.

The man obviously remembered the lengthy one-sided talk they’d had about food one evening, and now he was using it against him.

There was sushi, lots of sushi, tempura prawns and even Russian fare, along with cheeses and caviar, even high class fucking chicken wings, that Akihito thought looked amazeballs.

That fucking man was trying to soften him up. He’d shove a fucking chocolate in the bastard’s mouth for that, Akihito knew he didn’t like sweet things, chocolate especially.

Death by chocolate sounded like a good idea.

 

They all sat, the four Russians on one side of the table, and three Japanese on the other, coincidentally, Asami just happened to place himself opposite Akihito, who just ignored the cheeky fucker and engaged in conversation with Axel and ate, drinking very little as he did so.

Adding alcohol to this already fucked up concoction of fireworks and cow shit would be utter lunacy, he knew that.

 

The two men, Kirishima and Axel, exchanged knowing glances across the table, Kirishima just wanted to keep the night on track without incident, he knew Asami liked Akihito, but he didn’t know of their history, Axel however know it all, and had to make sure there was no blood shed or murder.

 

Akihito should have known, he should have fucking known that the night wasn’t going to be this easy. How did he know? He knew because of the expensive loafer that had made itself known in between his legs and was now pressed firmly up against his crotch, unseen under the table cloth.

 

He shot a glare at the man responsible for his discomfort, only to see amused gold eyes stare right back at him over the top of his whiskey tumbler, that fucking piece of shit, he was going to shank the bastard.

As if to answer Akihito’s thoughts, said loafer pressed a little harder, and twisted slightly, forcing Akihito to shift in his seat.

He was going to fucking shank him alright, after a quick round or two.

It didn’t help that the man was so disgustingly amazing to look at, impeccable in his three piece suit, and then he remembered what was underneath…

Fuuuuuck!!!

 

Asami looked as Akihito wiggled his perfect ass in the seat opposite him, the murderous glare he got was breath taking, those hazel eyes filled with fire did things to Asami’s rationale that he would never have thought possible.

The young blonde really was stunning in a suit jacket, the tight shirt underneath hugging his frame perfectly, showing off an extremely tempting amount of skin that looked ripe for ravaging.

Calm down, Asami.

 

He’d engaged in conversation with everyone else this evening, catching up with Mikhail about business, talking to Yuri about his upcoming retirement, gleaning a few bits here and there about Akihito from the man called Axel, who he now knew to be Akihito’s own second, the one he’d heard refer to Asami as ‘boyfee’ on the phone, the one who called Akihito bossman.

He concluded Axel must know about his little game, from the way he kept answering questions in a round about way before engaging Akihito in conversation again.

If they wanted to play it like that, then Asami would have to up his game, he had plenty more fun things up his sleeve, this time though, it was time to ask Akihito some questions.

“So Akihito, I’m sure many people are lining up for a strapping young man like you? Do you have time with all your hard work for Mikhail?” Asami asked innocently.

Kirishima just sighed, Axel along with him, Yuri tsked, bristling with protectiveness, and Suoh grunted disapproval, he’d been filled in by Kirishima.

Mikhail snorted before answering the question in Akihito’s stead, who was trying not to choke on his drink.

“Ha, yeah! What’s this I hear from Krista and Rolf from the club about you having a boyfriend huh?” his voice laced with an interrogating tone.

 

 

Oh god of all things illegal and criminal! Mikhail _and_ Asami were looking at him, both hungry for an answer, one was amused and curious, the other was displeased and insistent.

That fucking foot wiggled a little bit more on his crotch as if to say ‘come on, answer’. Shanking was too good for that fucker now… He’d have to think of something else.

“You know what they’re like Mickey, I said that just to get them off my fucking back.” It was true enough, if they knew he was taken, they’d hassle him less.

The foot on his groin gave an angry twist, and the malice in Asami’s eyes with Akihito’s denial showed for a split second, meant for only Akihito to see, until that face went back to its stoic expression of mild interest.

 

Akihito tried to hide the shit-eating grin on his face with a swig of beer, so, he’d hurt Asami’s feelings had he? What a crying fucking shame, not. He had to resist the urge to poke his tongue out to the man across the table.

“Spill it Akihito, I’ve given you a month to tell me, and I _will_ find out. You can’t hide that goofy ass grin you get when ever you get a text from someone.” Once again, Mikhail was sharp, and was not convinced, and also had to fucking make the situation worse with the grin comment.

Amused Asami was amused. “Oh, he smiles you say Mikhail? How cute. You must quite like this person hmm?”

“He does, and get this, I caught him face timing with-”

“Mikhail! Uuuuuugh!” Akihito interrupted with a shout, flinging his head back in his chair in frustration.

He threw his hands up in gesture of his ire, “Seriously Mickey, do we have to have this talk now? Let’s not bore our hosts with talk on my _non_ existent love life.”

Another angry jolt on his crotch from Mr loafer, who was going to find a fucking bullet embedded in himself soon.

“We are doing this now Akihito, you bolt whenever I ask at home. So fucking deal with it and tell me who the punk is so I can check him out.” Mikhail had taken on his big brother bear tone now.

“Hmm, what do you do if you find they aren’t suitable, Mikhail?” Asami asked with genuine interest, all the while the toe of his shoe made circular motions right on Akihito’s dick. Ugh. It was lucky Akihito was too mortified for his junk to give any sort of response right now.

Mikhail would kill two birds with one stone here, get the information out of Akihito while warning Asami what happened to people who dared touch his little brother without his approval. “Well, Yuri shot the last person Akihito brought home, Kendrick or something, he was a dick, one other guy, Alfonse the Italian that I didn’t like, never saw the light of day again…. That piece of shit was two timing, ripping his dick off and shoving it up his ass wasn’t enough.” Mikhail fought back a snarl at the memory.

Axel flinched at the big boss’s annoyance, Kirishima’s face went a shade whiter, Suoh stiffened at the information and Yuri sneered along with Mikhail, Akihito might have some crazy torture ideas, but he’d learned from the master, Mikhail, and what the Russian crime boss just said was light compared to his usual sadism.

Meanwhile, Asami digested the information very, very carefully.

Akihito just sighed at the memory, forgetting the situation momentarily as the foot stopped its movement, “I could have done that myself when I found out you know, Mickey.” It wasn’t a lie either, though he did appreciate Mikhail’s overbearing tone and mother goose nature more then he hated it.

“Yeah, yeah, but you would have went too easy on him.” Mikhail shot back with nonchalance.

“You know how I deal with betrayal Mikhail, the closer the betrayal, the more pain that goes with it. It’s the rule.” Akihito spoke low and harsh, giving everyone a hint of the boss he really was.

 

Asami’s excitement factor went sky high at the cold tone and cruel intent emanating from Akihito, oh how he’d love to see this boy in action. He was fucking magnificent. Calm down, Asami.

 

“It was my job as your family to deal with it how I saw fit, just like I’ll deal with this next chump if he’s a flop.” Mikhail got back to the topic at hand.

Kirishima left the table with a call on his phone, a ring tone that would only sound if the call warranted answering while they were at a gathering such as this.

 

Akihito thought leaving his seat was a good idea right now, and shifted in his chair to get up, to get away from the foot, and Mikhail’s all seeing eyes, and Asami’s thoughtful ones.

“Sit the fuck down Akihito. You must either like them a lot to fight it this hard, or they’re a complete asshat and you don’t want me to find out. Which is it?” Mikhail tugged Akihito back down into his seat, where that foot once again took its residence in between his legs.

Akihito had a switchblade in his pocket, the thought of cutting off a toe or two didn’t escape him at that moment.

 

Axel shot Asami a menacing glare of his own for putting his friend in this situation, he didn’t give a shit who the fucker was, he was about to start a war with his little game if Mikhail found out.

Asami raised a questioning eyebrow at Axel, as if to say, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ before turning back to Mikhail and Akihito.

The Japanese crime boss was beginning to understand Akihito’s reluctance in letting things out in the open, Mikhail looked near feral as he questioned his younger brother, something Asami honestly hadn’t expected, it only made it more fun though, the danger levels were rising and so was Asami’s thrill factor.

 

Akihito took a deep breath, calming himself, what the fuck was this shit, there was no way he was going to be played with like this, he could give as good as he got, and so he would, for his name wasn’t Akihito Arbatov.

Two could play at that fucking game, he shot Asami a cheeky glance before he played his cards.

“It’s just some amusement on the side, Mikhail, it’s unimportant.” He thought he sounded pretty convincing, cool even, he could milk this for all it’s worth.

Asami’s jaw clenched and he gripped his tumbler a little tighter, the whites of his knuckles showing, irriated at being called unimportant, he’d never been called that in his life. Yet here this brat was, denying Asami’s claim on him.

Only Akihito saw the reaction, because only he had been looking for it.

That foot threatened to render him sterile for a split second.

Totally fucking worth it, and Axel’s accompanying boom of laughter confirmed it.

 

His black haired brown-eyed friend looked at him for a second, his 24-year-old eyes sparkling with mischief, Axel might say that Akihito’s version of fun was fucked up, but he liked it just as much, it was Axel that dared him to see how fast they could make it through the Alps in the Porsche.

“It’s true Mikhail.” His friend said, “this person is always calling non stop, it’s not that the bossman is going out with them, it’s just that they wont leave him alone.” He said it so convincingly.

Oho, he was going to give Axel a pay rise, no, he was going to buy Axel an island, and a jet, and… and anything he wanted, nothing could repay Axel enough for that line of pure gold.

Akihito couldn’t help it, he guffawed as he was taking a sip of beer, the yeasty liquid coming out of his nose and running down his face, causing him to laugh all the more.

Axel cracked up next to him, both Asami and Mikhail were not amused by it one bit.

Both crime bosses were fed up with Akihito’s denial, for different reasons.

Akihito had shimmied his legs shut and crossed them, denying that furious foot access to crush his family jewels.

It was fucking glorious seeing the look on Asami’s face, and he wanted to play more.

He was about to open his mouth for a cheeky one liner, when Kirishima came hustling into the room up to Asami to whisper in his boss’s ear.

Asami’s demeanor turned business like as his secretary relayed information from the phone call to him, and Akihito was interested to see the change from plaything to crime boss in an instant.

Asami sighed as Kirishima finished talking, before turning to the rest of the table and voicing his problem, “a few pests have been burrowing into Tokyo lately, they just popped back up, thinking that with Mikhail in town I’d be distracted. I really should deal with them myself. So if you’ll excuse me.” He shot Akihito a glance, telling him this wasn’t over, and stood with Suoh, who was already getting things ready.

“Oho, I’m so famous, I’m flattered! Why don’t we join you for some fun then Asami?” Mikhail’s sadistic smirk came out full force, and Asami answered with an evil smirk of his own, turning to Akihito to answer his brother’s question.

“I think that sounds a splendid idea. Lets get going then.” 

“It’s gonna be a party, I’m so excited.” Mikhail practically bubbled with eagerness as everyone made to leave.

Yuri just got his phone out to inform Vlad, Kristof and Seigfried what was happening while Kirishima cried inside, and Suoh grunted once again.

Any other time, Mikhail’s excitement would have rubbed off on Akihito and Axel alike, but as he slid into the limo, and Asami sat down right next to him, pressing his giant muscled leg against Akihito’s smaller one, all he could do was stare at Axel who hadn’t squeezed in the limo in time to save him, and beg for help with his eyes.

The cowshit was going to explode any second now, he was sure of it.

 


	10. Chapter 10

 

*****

 

 

 

The lord of black market trades must have been looking down on Akihito, the half an hour car ride to the warehouse that housed the nearly tampered with shipment of cocaine was uneventful, sure, Asami imperceptibly rubbed his thigh against his the entire time, but Akihito would be a liar with his pants on fire if he said he didn’t like it.

 

That fucking leg, so muscular and strong, perfect for gripping onto as hard as he could, was right there, all Akihito would have to do was swing his other leg up and over and he could be straddling it… fuck.

His resistance was fading now the man was this fucking close, close enough to touch, close enough to smell and feel, finally after a month.

 

The sexual tension was so goddam high, you could practically smell the sex pheromones in the car.

 

It was a much welcome relief when the limo finally pulled into the dark warehouse and Kirishima opened the door to let them out.

 

Akihito and Asami were the last to exit, Asami made sure of that, as Akihito was getting out, of course Asami would take that moment to smack his ass with that magical fucking hand of his. It wasn’t a light smack either, stupid handsome asshole.

 

Fuck, if Mikhail had seen that….

 

Lucky the warehouse was dark enough that Mikhail didn’t know what caused Akihito to shout out, and that bastard’s accompanying sexy chuckle didn’t help, because Akihito let out a giggle of his own, his brother wasn’t often clueless, so Akihito found himself thinking the situation as extremely fun rather than deathly dangerous. Curse his adrenaline loving soul.

 

Just as he was about to turn around and retaliate, with maybe a cheeky kiss in the dark, the warehouse lights turned on, which is what saved his ass, literally, because as those lights flashed on, he found those golden eyes boring down on him, filled with heat and the unrelenting will to dominate.

The full wrath of the king of Asia was in those eyes, those eyes that made people cower, the gaze that made grown men flinch, those eyes that controlled everything in their sight. Eyes that conquered.

He knew that if he had indeed kissed him at that moment, he would have been a goner.

But fuck it all if it didn’t want to make him push that man, and those eyes back into the limo and lock the doors.

 

Instead, he matched his gaze, his stubborn ferocity blazing in his hazel orbs, issuing the challenge to ‘bring it on motherfucker.’

 

The air between them was volatile, it oozed the threat of the silent challenge, it reeked of restrained violence and tension, each second spent staring built the pressure between them, hearts beats going faster with each passing moment.

It filled his veins with adrenaline and dopamine, this shit was way to exciting to be legal.

 

“Ahem, Asami sama…” Kirishima muttered before anyone could take note of their staring contest, which was sure to light the warehouse on fire any second now.

 

 

The warehouse had been broken into in an attempt to lace a shipment of cocaine with white powder before it was distributed.

Considering the size of the shipment, it would have cost Asami a lot of money and lost him a few clients at the same time. No one brought from the same dealer again if they sold you something tainted.

Yes, Asami would have lost a lot of business if the plan had been successful, luckily the guards were sharp and had caught on, but all the pests had scarpered and disappeared, and Asami was pissed.

 

Pissed because this bullshit had interrupted his evening, pissed because he wanted nothing more then to take Akihito up against the side of the limo, and even more pissed because he couldn’t, for various reasons.

Asami growled low in Japanese, “You’re mine, Akihito.” before he walked away to where the guards that discovered the break in were.

 

Akihito just hissed quietly before taking a couple of deep calming breaths and following Asami to where everyone was standing, oblivious to the tense stand off that had happened not even 20 meters away moments before.

He had no idea what to do at this point, he was on edge and he knew he had it bad, and from the way Asami’s eyes followed his every move, the man wasn’t much better off.

 

Akihito knew, he knew deep down in the pit of his stomach that he had to tell Mikhail, but he would tell him in the heart of Siberia, preferably in the middle of a blizzard, so that when Mikhail finally got to civilization and near a phone, he would have cooled off and wouldn’t feel like killing anyone in a ten meter radius.

It was all very well for his little bro to have a one night stand, but anything more that had the capabilities of hurting his little brothers feelings was another matter.

Mikhail had taken on the parent role early on after their parents’ death, and even now that Akihito could more than take care of himself, he still had to poke his nose in like their mother would, or shoot any threat like their father would, and Uncle Yuri wasn’t much better.

Yup, he’d take Mikhail _and_ Yuri to Siberia and tell them there. Problem solved!

 

He snapped out of his planning, getting into work mode when the air took on a serious feel, and Asami began to discuss what happened with the men before finally coming to a conclusion. “This sounds like Sakezaki’s work, Kirishima, do we have any informants with him tonight?”

 

“None close enough to confirm this Asami sama, I can confirm he is at his club in Azabu tonight though.” The secretary reported.

“Well let’s go get the fucker then!” Mikhail exclaimed, annoyed that there were no captives to ‘play’ with.

“Hold ya fucking horses Mickey, pfft and you call _me_ trigger happy.” Akihito goaded his brother, happy that the attention wasn’t on him any more.

It felt like a normal gathering, well as normal as a gathering between crime bosses could get when two were secretly dating and the third one was one’s extremely protective big brother who had a temper when it came to matters involving said little brother. Yeah, it felt totally fucking normal alright.

“You gotta better idea huh, shit for brains?!” Mikhail chided back, not seriously though.

“I do actually, turd burger. Oi, Asami, you said it’s a dance club eh?” Akihito turned to address the man regarding him with appraising eyes, the danger lurking beneath the surface of that impassive gaze enough to excite him all over again. Man, he was hella sexy.

“I did.”

“Easy fucking peasy then! I’ll go and charm the bastard’s socks off.” If there was any one who could turn an entire club on its head, it was Akihito.

“Oh… that _is_ a good idea.” Mikhail said, a pleased gleam in his eye, his little brother was sharp.

Akihito puffed his chest in mock pride, “Yeah, you couldn’t do it though, cos everyone knows your ugly mug and your Japanese is shit, ha!”

 

“No.” Asami said abruptly, interrupting their repartee, not because it wasn’t a good idea, simply because he didn’t like the thought of Akihito charming anyone but him.

 

“What?” Mikhail, Yuri, and Akihito asked in unison. Kirishima and Axel exchanged glances and rolled their eyes, Suoh just brought his hand up to his face and massaged his temple.

 

 

“Asami sama.” Kirishima tried reasoning with his boss, who was being irrational “It’s our best chance at catching him tonight.”

 

Axel took his turn now, “Yeah, the bossman can do it, though he can’t take it too far cos it might upset his boyfee, ya know.” He had a wicked garner in his eye as he spoke, and Akihito curled over with laughter, shit he was a mischievous fucker when he wanted to be.

Mikhail and Asami both growled with their brows pursed. God, it made it even funnier.

Akihito couldn’t help himself, he had to keep it going, “Haha…. Ah, Axel. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him though.”

It was Axel’s turn to laugh, the deep noise rumbling from his thick chest as he bellowed his amusement, grabbing onto Akihito’s shoulder for support.

“Akihito.” Mikhail and Asami warned, causing the blonde and his friend to laugh all the more.

Kirishima and Suoh just looked askance at the two young whack jobs that were winding their boss up, Yuri just sighed and couldn’t help but look forward the end of the night.

 

“Seriously though, just send me in and I’ll get the info you want, then if it’s him, I’ll send word and you can make your move.” Akihito said properly this time, it did make perfect sense, send a young attractive man into the suspect’s premises to chat to his men and swindle info with his cunning. Akihito was sharp enough to get out if needed, or to defend himself if the shit hit the fan.

 

That was how Akihito found himself an hour later, sitting at the bar of the club with a drink in hand, chatting to the bartender and a small gathering that had practically flocked to him the moment he smiled, he asked normal questions while keeping an eye out for a man with a goatee and glasses.

Asami had stayed quiet the entire time as they laid out the plan, Kirishima and Mikhail going over the details as Asami stared daggers at Akihito all the while.

Akihito gave the man’s thigh a quick heartening squeeze as he got out of the car a block from the club, along with a sly grin that said ‘don’t worry, old man’, it must have pleased the man, because he gave a quiet hum of appreciation that made Akihito’s heart do girly shit. Ugh.

What the fuck was happening to him?

 

*****

 

Curse that stunning blonde Arbatov, Akihito was a sassy thing, teasing him so, staring at him with those primal eyes outside the limo at the warehouse, those eyes that would be in his dreams for many nights to come.

Then teasing him some more, his laughter lightening the mood around him.

His serious face as he planned with his brother and Kirishima was a sight to behold.

His was wicked smart, his eyes calculating and thoughtful with a hint of deadly efficiency, the way his face lit up and he smiled when the final bits of the plan were put together, Asami could watch it all day.

There was no one else like Akihito.

 

He was conflicted however, he knew Akihito could get it done, but the thought of Akihito even _associating_ with Sakezaki had his blood boiling, add to the fact that Akihito would be laughing for him, smiling at him, just fuck no. That wouldn’t do at all.

 

Asami was frustrated, horny, jealous and pissed off all at the same time, and no one had ever made him feel that way. Which only added to his emotions because he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

He couldn’t pass it off as simple want or lust anymore.

 

Then the blonde just had to go and give his leg a squeeze, the small amount of contact communication a million things, the thrill of their game, the tenacity of their emotions, the excitement, and Asami couldn’t help the satisfied noise that came from deep within his chest.

 

Akihito was his. He would make it so.

 

That was how Asami found himself sitting in his office at Sion with the others, waiting for word from Akihito, his man Axel on edge, at the ready in case things were to go wrong, Asami had no doubt, Axel would die for Akihito, he could see it in the man’s demeanor.

 

The way he felt for his gun in his holster every few minutes, the way his eyes shone with forbearance, he’d asked to accompany Akihito to the club, but he was much too big and dangerous looking to not warrant suspicion, might as well send Asami himself in if Axel was going.

Asami felt like the man looked however, it was only natural to want to protect what belonged to you, but for one of the first times in his life, this one thing didn’t need protection.

Akihito might have been smaller than Asami and Mikhail, but smaller didn’t mean less dangerous. The Mongolians and Koreans were proof of that.

The Japanese man was looking forward to seeing the results of Akihito’s work tonight.

 

*****

 

This club was seedy as fuck, Akihito had already lost count the amount of times people had tried to slip things into his drink, he felt their filthy eyes on him, and he wanted to stab all those fucking eyeballs with the blade in his pocket, set the place on fire and disinfect this shit hole.

He felt like he’d contracted STDs just by touching the damn bar, he needed a shower after this.

This club was nothing like Asami’s, this place was complete trash, and Akihito didn’t have much tolerance for places like this.

Especially the way people treated him, he wanted nothing more than to make the shits grovel at his feet before burying a bullet in their brains, after telling them his name of course.

The woman weren’t much better, fake and doused in cheap perfume, rubbing their flimsy bodies against him in their attempts to awaken his arousal. Gross.

 

Still he laughed and joked with them, noting the activities in the corners of the club, men coming in and out quickly from somewhere, he needed to talk to one of those people.

He went to pick his drink up, his hand carefully over the top of the bottle, when another hand was placed on top of his.

“I haven’t seen you around before.” Came the graveled Japanese.

Akihito looked up to see the glasses and goatee he’d been looking for, Sakezaki, his silk shirt not buttoned up properly, revealing his hairy chest, this man was a real creeper.

 

Akihito tried not to laugh, this man wasn’t even in the same league as his brother or Asami. Fuck, he really hated it when people didn’t know their place, this piece of shit was the one trying to impede Asami’s business, and he found it made him irrationally angry.

 

If it was true, he was gonna kill that fucker good.

 

“That’s because I haven’t been here before.” Akihito replied with a smile, he was going to wrap the sleaze ball around his finger.

“So what brings a pretty thing like you to my club?” the man asked, leaning against the bar suggestively. Akihito may have thrown up in his mouth a little.

“It’s your club?” he tried to sound impressed, he wasn’t, Akihito owned several clubs in different countries around the world that made this one look like a hovel.

“It is.” the man said with too much arrogance, Asami wasn’t arrogant, he thought, “You want an exclusive tour huh?” the man leaned in close, and Akihito shivered in disgust, fighting the urge not to lash out with his hand and connect with the man’s throat.

The man took it as a different kind of shiver though, his eyes roaming up and down Akihito’s figure as he licked his lips slightly.

This randy bastard was way too easy. “Lead the way.” Akihito purred back.

 

Minutes later they found themselves in the man’s private bar with two men posted at the door, not that it bothered Akihito, he could shoot them both, or Sakezaki if he wanted.

“You never said what brought you here?” the man said as he poured them drinks, which Akihito sure as hell wouldn’t be consuming.

“I was just trying to find a place away from certain people… and this seemed like a good one.” Akihito danced around his agenda.

The man didn’t miss his meaning, smirked and sat next to him on the couch, way too close for Akihito’s liking, his leg felt nothing like Asami’s.

“I assure you, pretty boy, you couldn’t have come to a better place.” The man leaned in close to whisper in his ear, and bile definitely came up this time.

“You aren’t a fan of certain people then?” Akihito asked, pretending that the alcohol was affecting him.

The man leant back and snorted, it was fucking disgusting, “Pfft, you could say I’m that fuckers worst critic.”

“Ah…” Akihito act like he sympathized, “I feel you, if only someone could do something about it.”

The man practically spat his answer, “I tried, but even with that piece of shit Russian in town he managed to foil my plans.” He leaned in once more, “don’t worry though, your safe here, baby.”

Akihito fought back a snarl, pretending to take a drink. “Mikhail Arbatov is in town?”

“Asami is entreating with him, two of the biggest assholes of the underworld together can’t be any good for the rest of us.”

 

Akihito felt like a blood vessel was going to burst any moment now, he’d just insulted Mikhail _and_ Asami, his temper was a lot worse for the fact, and he wondered if he could take down all the men in the club by himself to let some of his anger out.

 

Nevertheless, he continued his flirty questioning, the man daring to run his hand up his thigh as Akihito ferreted more information and waited for a chance to send the message to Mikhail.

 

*****

 

The clock struck 2am, and Axel was the first out to stand up, it had been two hours, the plan was to head into the area and lock it down if they hadn’t heard from Akihito by then, and they hadn’t.

 

Everyone was silent, calm but eager to get to the Azabu club.

It was more than likely Akihito wasn’t in trouble, Mikhail said he’d simply kill anything and anyone if it came down to it.

Akihito was on a different caliber to Sakezaki and his men, but the dedicated time had passed, thus Asami, Axel, Mikhail and Suoh found themselves filing out of a car and sneaking around to the clubs back entrance.

Yuri, Kirishima, Vlad, Kristof and Siegfried were busy securing the wider area with more of Asami’s men.

Asami had given the order to just kill on sight, Akihito was in that club, and the time had passed, each second he was in there without hearing from him was a second too long. If Sakezaki had so much as _breathed_ on Akihito, he was going to skin him alive.

 

The giant Axel, stalked forward like a huge black cat in the dark, slinking around the corner to snap the neck of the guard posted there with a sickening twist of his head, before lowering the corpse to the ground quietly and continuing on, wanting to get to his best friend and boss more than anyone.

Suoh gave a grunt of surprise at his deadly proficiency and in that moment, re-examined the 24 year old as more than able as he took his 9mm with silencer on and shot the man at the back door clean in the temple. To get that shot in the dark…

“Good fucking shot Axel.” Mikhail whispered. The large man grunted at the compliment before prowling up the back steps before them all, kicking the body out of the way and entering the building to screen it for their entrance, Mikhail and Asami were next, Suoh at their back.

 

Mikhail and Suoh went left, Asami and Axel went right, they decided earlier to split into pairs of one Russian and one Japanese, based on mutual trust, an exercise that would consolidate their alliance.

Suoh protested at first, but had no problems leaving his boss with Axel after seeing the man in action.

 

Asami couldn’t help thinking the back corridors to the club were a little too quiet, they should have encountered some men by now, and his steps began to speed up ahead of Axel’s in his impatience to find Akihito.

“He is fine. Don’t be hasty.” Axel murmured to him.

Asami stopped dead in his tracks, hasty? He wasn’t being hasty.

He didn’t feel the sense of urgency threatening to make his feet move faster.

“If he finds out you worried about him, he’ll gut you.” Axel said as they rounded another corner to find the hallway empty.

“I’m not worried.” Asami replied blandly.

“Ha, could have fooled me.” Came the utterance as they travelled the hall in silent steps.

Searching room by room as they went.

“You like him.” Axel stated after a few more rooms.

“I do.”

“Good, he likes you. But don’t count on him ever telling you that. That guy can be one stubborn son of a bitch, and you seem to bring it out full force in him. Heh.”

“Fufu, he is something else.” Asami checked another room.

“Wait til you see him at work…. scratch that, looks like he’s already been to work.”

As they rounded another corner, there was light coming from an open door, bodies sprawled haphazardly on the floor in front of the entrance, spatters of drying blood up the wall, flowers the color of blood painting the white from where the bullets had gone right through body parts.

“Explains where all the men are….” Axel mused aloud.

 

They stepped over the cooling puddles of crimson, congealing into sticky lakes littered with limbs and flesh, and walked into the room strewn with more bodies, to find Akihito holding a struggling Sakezaki up against the wall, his toes inches off the floor, the blonde having no trouble keeping the larger man up.

 

Akihito’s chest was facing them with his head turned in Sakezaki’s direction, but Asami could make out blood spatter on the side of his face, could see the strength in the small hand as it clamped around Sakezaki’s throat, his eyes cold and emotionless as he choked the life from Asami’s rival.

The hand at his waist had Asami’s gun in it, held with poise and expertise. It looked right on him. Asami liked it, he liked it a lot.

 

To think he’d had been worried, he took in the countless bodies in the room, worried, he could have laughed.

As the pair stepped into the room, said gun was pointed in their direction with experienced speed and aim.

“Oh, Asami, Axel. Is it that time already?” Akihito let go of the throat he was holding, Sakezaki’s eyes beginning to bulge as he fought for air, gasping and coughing as he dropped to the floor like a sack of shit.

“What’s all this hmm?” Asami asked, actually wanting to know what was going on.

“I was too busy to message, my bad.” Akihito just shrugged as he looked down at the wheezing man he’d been strangling moments earlier.

Sakezaki looked up at them, “ssso you w-work for that bastard d-do you pretty boy, do you ssspread your legs for him t-too?” the man hissed between breaths.

Lighting fast, Akihito took aim and fired with Asami’s gun, sinking a bullet into the man’s shoulder, who cried out in agony, red blooming on the white of his silk shirt as he clutched at his shoulder in pain.

Asami lowered Akihito’s which he carried all the time, he was about to do the same thing.

 

“The fuck did I say about insulting people huh?! Use some fucking manners when talking about people better than you.” Akihito snapped, oozing menace and restrained anger.

 

“Ha… haaa, little boy, trying to impress the b-boss huh.” Sakezaki was breathing a little better now even though sweat marred his brow and his skin was pale, he looked at Asami “so where’s your Russian boyfriend _Asami,_ bet that blonde faggot Mikhail likes it up the ass.”

 

“You fucking stupid bastard.” Axel sighed and said, shaking his head as the flat of Akihito’s boot connected violently with Sakezaki’s unsuspecting face in a nauseating stomp, smashing the nose and glasses, teeth through the flesh of his lips before breaking as well.

 

There was a hole in the wall from the impact of the back of his head, knocking the man into a semi conscious state.

Akihito knelt down nonetheless, switch blade in his other hand now, and slapped him awake, the man groaned in pain as his head hung against his chest, rivers of red running from his nose and mouth.

 

“I never gave you my name did I?” Akihito asked rhetorically, “let me clue you in on something _pretty boy_ ” he hissed those words before continuing on, sardonic “my name is Akihito Arbatov. Oho, yes, you see now don’t you googley eyes? That blonde faggot you have been insulting all night is my brother, and the Japanese one you’ve been slagging off is _my_ boyfriend. I told you to shut your fucking mouth, but you just wouldn’t listen.”

Akihito slapped him some more, “Don’t you fucking pass out on me, it’s only a little concussion, go on, insult them some more, I dare ya.”

 

He ran the flat of his blade down the man’s thigh, the one that had been touching him, before bringing it up and burying the cold metal to the hilt into his muscle bed with a quick stab, jerking the man awake with a shriek.

Akihito smirked, “Welcome back. Round two starts now.”

 

Asami got his wish to see Akihito in action, his ruthless hazel eyes screaming with intensity though he spoke calmly, he was in control.

 

But this was too much, the smell of blood, the sight of Akihito like this, blade in hand as he tormented Sakezaki, danger and beauty rolled into a wild little package that didn’t take well to people insulting his brother… and boyfriend it seemed.

It all rushed to Asami’s dick, as if the floodgates had been opened, Akihito was so fucking sexy, lethal and sexy, the best combination.

It was unbearable.

He stepped up behind the blonde who was standing once more, to let him know his thoughts, and pressed his erection against that perfect ass, in the line between his cheeks, uncaring of Axel in the room as he whispered in Akihito’s ear. “If you carry on like this, Akihito, I’ll have to fuck you right here and now, and I won’t stop, not even if Mikhail comes.”

The shiver his words elicited, along with the breathy sigh that went with it only made matters worse, he pressed harder, and sighed himself when Akihito pressed back.

“Fucken blonde thlut!” Sakezake managed to spit out between broken teeth and swollen bloody lips.

Both Akihito and Asami brought guns up simultaneously, Akihito held Asami’s gun that he’d had since their first meeting, and Asami held Akihito’s, his strong arm alongside the smaller one as their bodies pressed close and they pulled the trigger, two shots only split seconds apart, Akihito’s erupting in the man’s chest cavity in a spray of blood while Asami’s burst the man’s eye and tore through his brain for an instant kill.

 

Killing someone had never been so good, Asami’s heart was going crazy, and he could tell Akihito’s was doing the same from the rapid beat he felt against his chest from Akihito’s back.

“It was him, by the way, that tried to fuck with your shipment…” Akihito announced to the silent room.

Axel just scoffed, walking out the room to stand at the door, while Asami chuckled into Akihito’s hair, inhaling the scent of mint and iron, the smell of Akihito. It was so good.

Neither of them moved, becoming breathless in their thrill as they stood there, pressing harder and harder against each other, “So I _am_ your boyfriend hmm?” Asami asked, his breath hot in Akihito’s ear.

“Mmmm.” Akihito confirmed it.

Before they could continue their talk, Asami about to bring up Mikhail, they heard the Russian mob boss’s voice boom down the hallway.

“Who had all the fucking fun without me?!” the voice echoed down the corridor and into the room, giving Asami enough time to slip his house keys into Akihito’s jacket pocket.

“Keys to my place, I’ll text you the address. I’ll sort this out and meet you there.” He murmured into Akihito’s ear before stepping away, seconds before Mikhail burst into the room, Suoh in tow.

 


	11. Chapter 11

 

*****

 

 

As Asami and Kirishima cleaned up the mess that Akihito had made, that rusty smell of blood and gunpowder along with the lingering scent of Akihito’s mint shampoo swirled around in his head, it was a heady combination that had his blood pounding, fueling him to get things sorted as fast as he could.

 

Akihito had ferreted a fair amount of information out of Sakezaki before he finally snapped, and it gave Asami more than enough reason for Sakezaki’s entire organization to be wiped out, which had already been accomplished by Akihito by the time they arrived to utter chaos.

 

It was a fine mess, Asami had to admit, all the cadavers had been hit with either a shot to the head or the throat, the signs of an expert marksman.

 

Akihito was dynamite, explosive, leaving havoc in his wake. Asami had seen and heard of many a similar mess caused by Mikhail over the years, and their father had caused havoc on a legendary scale, a man worshipped in the underworld, famous for his deeds and his temper.

 

Akihito was an Arbatov to the bone, notorious for their irritability, stubborn loyalty and family values. When combined with someone like Sakezaki, who had continually put his foot in his mouth, this was the result, and Mikhail put all the pieces together the moment he stepped foot in the room.

 

The brothers exchanged quiet words with a rough embrace, the adoration evident on Mikhail’s face, and the way Akihito idolized his older brother obvious in his eyes, a bond Asami knew he could never even hope to come between, that much was certain.

 

“Blood Above All” Axel muttered the Arbatov family motto as he went to stand with Asami and Kirishima, “See, it’s not as simple as just telling him. The thing Akihito fears the most in this world is disappointing Mikhail.” Axel continued under his breath, talking about the brotherly display of affection, the two acting as family first before Akihito stood to attention in work mode and delivered the report in detail like a true second would, to Mikhail and Asami both.

 

 

Once all the information was out, and Kirishima had all the details for a report of his own, Mikhail gave his second permission to go and cool off for the night, Akihito’s only orders were to be back at the hotel tomorrow before noon, hang over or not.

 

Gold eyes trailed Akihito as he left the room, the blonde still on red alert, his eyes attentive, his movements crisp and agile, deadly. Asami’s phone was out of his pocket and texting Akihito his address only seconds later.

 

*****

 

 

It was 3am by the time Asami left, half an hour after Akihito, he dumped all the work on a surprised Kirishima and ordered that he not be disturbed until noon.

If anyone interrupted his Akihito time, he’d shoot them without a second thought.

He ordered Suoh to drive faster, instead of the drive from Azabu to Shinjuku taking twenty minutes, it took 12, a new record for Suoh, but it still wasn’t fast enough.

 

He bid Suoh goodnight, once more relaying his ‘do not disturb’ orders and prowled to the private elevator in the underground parking lot that went all the way up to his penthouse.

The elevator had never taken this long he was sure, the hall way seemed longer, and each step couldn’t bring him to his door fast enough.

 

He had his spare access key in hand at the ready, and dropped everything at the floor the moment he stepped inside, his jacket, briefcase and shoes, all in a messy pile at the door. Forgotten, everything was forgotten apart from the person he knew would be waiting for him, he could _feel_ him, sense him in this house, he didn’t know how, he just knew that Akihito was here.

His penthouse felt different, it felt… better with Akihito in it.

 

He found the lounge dark, only lit from lights coming from the view of the Tokyo skyline through the window, Akihito was sitting on the couch, swirling a tumbler of Asami’s finest whiskey, his eyes locked on Asami as the Japanese man entered the room.

 

“Welcome home.” He said genuinely, even though his eyes still shone with tenacity, plain to see even in the dim light. It was a different sort of tenacity from before, one that Asami was feeling himself right now.

 

They were finally alone.

 

“And what a welcome it is.” Asami said as he took the glass from Akihito’s hand and downed the liquid fire himself, staring at Akihito all the while.

 

The tension was thick, the air between them stifling as Akihito stood, inches away from Asami, they weren’t even touching, but already Asami could feel the mounting pressure between them.

There would be fire, the heat building to the point of ignition, all they needed to do was touch, and it would all burst into savage flames.

 

 

Time stopped as they took each other in, all of each other, Akihito stepping forward while Asami stepped backwards, close enough for their breaths to mingle as they walked like that all the way to Asami’s bedroom.

Neither one of them was willing to close the distance, still playing their game all the way to the edge of Asami’s bed, where it all finally erupted, and they stopped playing their game at last.

 

Akihito shoved Asami down onto the bed, a mindless ardor in his eyes as he took control, stunning Asami as Akihito straddled his waist and pinned his hands down with his own.

Asami could see as Akihito leant down, his face above Asami’s, that right now Akihito was still in a volatile mood.

Which suited Asami perfectly, he loved a good fight.

 

“You say that I’m yours…” came the breathy whisper into his ear, “but don’t you ever fucking forget that you’re mine as well.” The words filled with possession and command, were followed by Akihito’s hot mouth biting down hard on the flesh of Asami’s neck, the teeth scraping across the skin of his jugular.

Asami hissed with the pain that travelled straight to his groin in the most delicious way.

Fuck, he liked that a little too much.

That mouth nibbled and sucked, Asami’s breath hitching as the teeth made another pass at the same spot, followed by a soothing tongue that caressed the violated area.

“Mine.” Akihito declared.

“Mine.” Asami growled back.

 

Akihito looked at him again in that moment, their eyes a flurry of emotions, hunger, lust, need, power, obsession, and minds crazed as lips finally touched.

 

It was over for the both of them, coherency gone as their tongues met with a months worth of urgency, their hands a flurry as holsters and clothes came off, impatient to get to each other’s body.

 

He could see the mischief in Akihito’s eyes as the blonde straddled him once more, skin contact electric as the smaller hands roamed Asami’s bare skin, firm and insistent.

 

Asami’s own hungry hands ran up and down the outsides of Akihito’s firm thighs, supple and soft, he gripped the small hips to the point of bruising, as he finally broke the breathy silence.

“Are you that excited Akihito?” He teased, “What do you plan to do to me hmm?” came his husky question, staring up into frenzied hazel jewels.

Akihito leant down once more, gaze locked on the hypnotic pools of gold, “I’ll show you.”

 

Asami let the wild creature on him take control for the moment, reveling in the feeling of fighting for dominance as he found his wrists tied above his head with his own holster straps, this, he was not expecting.

 

Asami Ryuichi did not get tied up, he fought against the leather around his wrists, only to find the knots tied impeccably, secure with no way out.

What was worse, was that each time he jolted his wrists in attempts to free himself, his pulse thumping in his ears, he found himself thrilled beyond expectation, the harder he struggled, the more he liked it.

 

Scratch that, he fucking loved it, he loved it when the naughty blonde began exploring his chest with his teeth, biting him passed the point of pain and bruising, each agonizing nip excited Asami more, the sting glorious as he slammed his wrists upwards, bruising them also, to get the knots to loosen, but they wouldn’t. God, a fight had never been so fucking good.

 

He fought a groan at an extra hard suck on his collarbone, the sensation coursing through his entire body, his breathing haggard as Akihito marked him all over in his fever, slowly moving his way down to Asami’s groin.

He hissed as the blonde chomped on the tendon in the junction of his groin, sucking there while deft fingers danced on the soft skin behind Asami’s balls, small circular motions that tickled amazingly.

 

The crime lord was on fire, breathless and sweating as he looked at Akihito down the length of his body, only seeing madness as the blonde continued nibbling on his skin while looking back at him.

 

This was it, Asami had never been this excited, had never been this aroused, all because of the crazy Russian that was doing this to him.

“I tie good knots hey?” Akihito smirked.

“Very good, but not as good as me.” Asami smirked back.

“You say that, but you haven’t managed to free yourself.” Came the breathy comeback, as fingers traveled lower and lower down the crease of Asami’s ass.

“Akihito.” Asami warned without much threat as wet fingers circled his entrance.

“Hmmm?” came the question as a finger pushed in past the ring of muscle, all the way up to the knuckle, sending lightning up Asami’s spine and whiting out his vision.

“Fuck, Akihito.” He managed to whisper after a moment.

“Like I said Asami… Don’t forget you’re mine too.”

 

Asami’s reply was lost as he threw his head back into the pillows with fists clenched above his head, not fighting but groaning as white-hot pleasure flooded his system, Akihito twirled his slender finger round and round, before adding another, his fingers working in and out in a steady rhythm, brushing the bundle of nerves inside Asami that had him biting back moans through clenched teeth.

Fuck, he’d forgotten this feeling, it felt damn good.

 

The Japanese crime lord struggled against the need to rock his hips into that hand, struggled between trying to free himself, or succumbing to the pleasure that was trying to overwhelm him.

His decision was made for him as he felt a moist heat wrap itself around his needing dick, a soft tongue circling his head, sucking and massaging up and down as fingers began to pump faster, slamming into his prostate, bringing him close to the edge, and fast.

 

Asami _was_ rocking his hips now, his eyes shut as he thrust all the way into Akihito’s mouth, ramming the back of his throat as fingers rammed his own bundle of nerves inside him.

Fuck, he was so close, his balls clenched, ready for release, he just needed something else.

 

Those fingers stopped moving, staying inside to press firmly against his prostate, a long hard stroke that had Asami seeing stars, Akihito giving him exactly what he needed as he exploded into the back of the Russians mouth with a shout.

“Oh, yessssss, Akihito.” He bellowed as the warmth of his own spend flooded the already hot cavern and added to his high, he rode out his orgasm with slow thrusts into that velvet mouth, huffing with each new wave of pleasure.

His head slumped against the headboard as he fought for breath and control of his mind.

He came too as fingers withdrew, and Akihito sat up to stare at him, hungry, his own need put off for too long, the sight of those lustful eyes awakening him full force again, he could never, ever have enough of this person.

Asami devoured the vision of Akihito spitting his release onto his own hand and kneeling over Asami’s crotch, legs spread apart as the blonde brought the hand covered in Asami’s cum down behind to prepare himself.

“Akihito, let me take care of you now. Untie me.” Asami whispered, he wanted to destroy this boy so badly, his domineering instincts taking over again as he was ignored and made to watch, made to starve as the blonde’s eyes scrunched tight, thrusting his own fingers in and out to stretch himself for Asami, all the while biting his bottom lip, driving Asami crazy with the sight and sounds of Akihito’s lewd attentions to himself.

“Untie me.” He growled, a hungry tiger in a cage with his food just out of reach.

Akihito just looked down at him, the corner of his lip curling in a teasing smile as he finally repositioned himself over Asami, lining his cock with Akihito’s wet entrance, slowly, enticingly, oh Asami was going to make him pay.

The Japanese man didn’t wait for Akihito to lower himself, as soon as the tip of his head was in, he snapped his hips up on one go, burying himself all the way to the hilt, pushing the blonde to brace himself, his hands on Asami’s chest.

“So tight.” Asami breathed, as he continued grinding upwards into the welcoming heat.

“So fucking big.” Akihito replied, serious, and Asami chuckled despite himself as he rolled his hips, Akihito panting when they picked up the pace, Asami’s hands still tied above his head.

 

Soon enough, Akihito’s head was thrown back, moaning, his nails raking across the skin of Asami’s chest as he rode him as hard and fast as he could, but Asami could see the Russian wanted more, he knew he got off on pain, pain only Asami could give.

“Akihito,” he whispered, catching the blonde’s attention, “you want it harder, I know you do, you want it faster, and for that my cute boy, you’ll have to untie me.”

He could see Akihito’s mind ticking over, so he went for the final push.

“Untie me Akihito, so I can wreck you.”

He smirked as Akihito shivered and leant forward to undo Asami’s restraints, letting the tiger out of the cage at last.

The straps weren’t even half way off as Asami snarled and flipped their position, looming over the blonde who still dared to stare at him with the cheekiness that drove him crazy.

“Bring in on, old man.” Akihito quipped, wrapping his legs around Asami’s waist, urging him on.

“Oho, I will make you regret ever saying that, brat. Hold on tight.” With that, Asami used all the force he could, driving forward with the power of his muscled legs, forcing the air from Akihito’s lungs as he sunk himself balls deep into Akihito’s perfect ass.

“Oh, fuck, deeper.” Akihito moaned in abandon as he scraped red ribbons across Asami’s back, which only fired Asami up more, it felt so good to be marked. Everything felt good.

 

“Scratch me harder, and I’ll go as deep as you can handle, I’ll tear you in two, Akihito.” He promised the blonde, and moments later was rewarded with new stripes along his back as he drew out and slammed in, again those nails scraped harder, each powerful thrust repaid with the sight of Akihito coming undone underneath him as he continued to turn the skin of Asami’s back into angry red signs of passion.

“Nnngh, Asami… sssoo close” Akihito pleaded, tossing his head to the side.

Asami stilled to lean down to breathe hot words into Akihito’s ear.

“Mine.” He latched his teeth onto the shell of Akihito’s exposed ear and plunged back in, harder, faster, deeper than before, sending them both over the edge together, the ache in his ass and the warmth in his groin a fusion that had him completely blissed out like never before.

Akihito arched his back underneath him, crying his name as he came all over his stomach in his climax, fighting for air and respite as Asami began kissing him, hungry still.

The Japanese crime lord wasn’t even close to being done. He would always be hungry for Akihito.

 

*****

 

 

They eventually fell asleep entangled in each other, not even dozing for 45 minutes until their body clocks had them waking up 2 hours before noon, 2 hours before Akihito had to go back to his hotel.

Akihito stirred first, rolling over to check his phone on a shipment he was expecting trouble with.

“God dammit, fucking Colombians.” He muttured as he read the message that confirmed his suspicions.

“Something the matter?” Asami asked as he draped a hand around Akihito’s waist, drawing him against his chest as Akihito read the report that had been sent to his email, the large man looking over his shoulder as he placed gentle kisses on Akihito’s neck.

“Mmm, just South Americans being South Americans.”

“You can tell me.” Asami urged.

“Asami…. Lets not mix business with.. this thing-” Akihito started.

“We mixed business with this thing when you shot up half a club last night on my behalf. It’s to late now, Akihito.” Akihito was rolled onto his back and looked at with serious gold eyes.

“I couldn’t help it alright, he was such a fucking asshole.” Akihito huffed, sent orders to his man in Colombia and threw his phone somewhere on the bed covers, laying flat in resignation.

 

“Fufu. It’s ok, I liked the result quite a lot.” Asami trailed his fingers up Akihito’s body, covered in hickeys, he’d left the neck clean to avoid suspicion, going by the image of the two brothers standing together and Axel’s words to him. He’d have to let Akihito tell Mikhail in his own time. If they both turned up covered in love bites then it would be obvious.

“Hey.. what’s this one? I didn’t give you that.” Asami questioned as he saw a small yellow bruise underneath Akihito’s collarbone.

The blonde looked down to see, his eyes remembering, “Oh, that was Mikhail.” Was all he said.

“Mikhail did this?” Asami asked, tense.

“Yeah, that bastard cornered me, pushed me down and fired at me.” Akihito said nonchalantly.

He looked at Asami as the man drew back with a disgusted sneer on his face, realizing how it sounded, and what the bruise must look like.

“Oh god, fuck no! It was a paintball. A fucking paintball!! What the fuck Asami, how could you think that shit!?” he punched the man in the shoulder, genuinely offended.

Asami stopped from getting up, “A paintball?” he quizzed.

“Yes.” Akihito spat, “We have a paintball course at our estate that we use for tactical training. Sheesh.” Akihito pushed Asami the rest of the way out of bed, where the startled man just chuckled as he thumped to the floor and brought Akihito sliding off the edge with him, the smaller figure falling into his arms with a laugh.

 

“Ew, this is way too romantic.” The blonde declared.

“Oho, you don’t like to cuddle? That’s too bad, because I do.” Asami said as he wrapped his arms around Akihito, who was still laughing and struggling to get up.

“You fucking strong bastard, let me up.” Akihito gave a delicious pout that Asami couldn’t help but kiss.

“You’re really bloody clingy in the mornings aren’t ya?” Akihito gave up and placed his head against the muscled chest covered in bite marks.

“And you’re extra bratty in the mornings.” Asami teased back, his eyes smiling.

“Oi, don’t you go spouting that brat shit, I have enough people giving me grief about it that I have to cut their damn fingers off, remember.” Akihito reminded him.

“Oho, no, I could never forget that” he chuckled as he thought of the photo of Mr Lee before moving on, they didn’t have much time, “Shower?”

“Shit yes. Umm actually, I might need help getting up, and painkillers.” Came the frank reply.

Asami’s laugher echoed in his chest as he helped the blonde up and towards the shower, where they washed each other, taking care of the bruises they’d given each other only hours earlier.

“This is so….”Akihito trailed off, he couldn’t find the right words.

“So like what _boyfriends_ do?” Asami mocked as they toweled dry.

“Baha. Yes, that’s it. God it’s fucking hilarious.”

“I can call you my mistress if you prefer.” He badgered the young man, who turned and bristled instantly.

“Go fuck yourself, old geezer…” he deadpanned, leaving Asami chuckling in the bathroom by himself.

He finally took in the sight of himself in the bathroom mirror, turning to admire the stripes on his back before looking at his chest, neck, and wrists, quite liking the look of the marks caused by Akihito on him.

He hummed to himself in satisfaction before he went after Akihito.

 

He found the blonde in the kitchen dressed in his clothes from last night, examining the contents of his fridge.

“Ugh, you’re one of _those_ people. There is no fucking food in your fridge!” he exclaimed as he found only alcohol on the shelves.

“One of those people?”

“Ya know, ‘I’m the boss and I drink to eat, there’s a sandwich in every swig’. One of them ones. Mickey is exactly the same. Drives me up the fucking batty.” Akihito shut the fridge, finally accepting defeat in the fact that no matter how damn long he looked, food wouldn’t magically appear.

“Speaking of your brother, Akihito.” Asami broached the very important subject of telling Mikhail.

“Ah yeah… bout that. I’ll spill the beans when we get home.” The blonde strolled into the lounge and threw himself on the couch.

“Alright then, but if you don’t tell him I will.” Asami sat in his recliner and text Kirishima to have someone bring food for two.

“Ha, good luck with that one buddy... So, what else you plan with Mickey while we’re here?” the blonde questioned, looking at him from the couch.

“Drinks tonight at a casino I own with some gambling thrown in.”

“Gah, booooring!” Akihito declared.

“Oho, is that not a fun date is it?” Asami retorted.

“Old man, if you take me on a date, it better be more fucking exciting than that. Plus, it’s no date.” Akihito sat up, dead serious about both things.

Before Asami could reply, one of Asami’s men that brought the requested food knocked, Asami wondering what an exciting date would be as he got up to get their breakfast. It was amusing to see the look of shock on his subordinates face when the man saw the purple hickey on Asami’s neck, the man just sputtered good bye and walked off, stunned.

 

The rest of their time was spent in content silence as they ate the traditional Japanese food for breakfast/lunch, bringing their time together to a close.

Akihito went to the bedroom to find his holsters and guns, picking Asami’s up automatically instead of his matching pair that were now together again, he paused and looked at the one he should be taking on Asami’s bedside table, then looked back at the one in his hand.

“Keep it.” Asami said at the door. “You can take yours if you need it.” Though he would be happier with keeping it, Akihito’s gun had served him well over the last month.

The Russian turned, slipping the plain black colt into its cradle, then picking up his and handing it to Asami, who looked at him with surprise.

“Keep it.” was all he said before he left.

 

*****

 

 

It was ten minutes to noon when he entered the hotel lobby, his entire body aching in the most pleasant way as he rode the elevator up to his floor, for only 45 minutes sleep and a right fucking into the mattress, he felt damn good.

He found a shifty looking Axel in front of his hotel room door, a shifty Axel was never a good thing, he felt his good mood lessen.

“What is it?” he asked right away.

“See for yourself..” Axel said blandly, and gestured to the door to Akihito’s room.

“Righto then.” Akihito said, curious as he pushed his door open and walked into his suite, past the sitting area and into the bedroom.

He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight that greeted him.

 

“Feilong, what the fuck are you doing here?!” he cursed as he found the Chinese Baishe leader lounging on his bed, waiting for him.

“Where have you been all night?!” Feilong pouted.

“What are you doing here Feilong?” Akihito asked again in a monotone.

“Hmph Mikhail invited me to your little get together with Asami tonight. Why, are you that happy to see me, Akihito?” Feilong smirked at the startled blonde, who looked extra exceptional today. “Also, who is this boyfriend of yours that Mikhail keeps ranting on about? Akihito, if I can’t have you, no one can.”

“Oh hell fucking no. This is not happening right now.” Just like that, Akihito’s good mood went right down the shitter.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **BOOM**

 

*****

 

 

 

 

Asami lounged in his recliner wearing his robe after Akihito left, it wasn’t even lunchtime, but his whiskey tumbler was in his hand, and he had a nice fat Cuban cigar hanging off his lips.

 

He exhaled a satisfied puff of smoke and let it trail up his face, a fulfilled glint in his eye as he thought about Akihito.

 

Asami had never fucked so much in one night, he’d never found anyone even remotely close to matching his sexual energy, until Akihito. The young man was just about as insatiable as he was, the way they fed off each other, fueled each other, it had Asami getting hard all over again just thinking about it. Damn, they should have had a quick one in bed this morning.

 

Despite his hunger returning, for the first time in a long time, perhaps ever, Asami was sexually satisfied, he reveled in the feeling, the dull ache in his muscles, the tiredness that came with fucking someone all night long.

 

Such an occasion called for his finest Cuban.

 

Once again, he admired the purpling band of bruising encircling his wrist as he brought his hand up to touch the tender spot on his neck, Akihito’s mark of ownership.

He smirked at the fact, _no one_ had ever dared claim Asami Ryuichi as theirs before.

Yet here was this 23-year-old Russian, full of fire and vigor, tying him up and marking him, not just in one place, but all over. The blonde little Piranha had dared to bite the shark.

He pushed his robe to the side and looked at his chest, a trail of crescent bruises all the way down to the band of his briefs and below.

 

He was marked alright, and he didn’t mind it one bit. He didn’t bother to cover up as Kirishima walked in, he didn’t care who saw.

It was ten minutes past noon, his secretary really held back, normally he would have been in the condo one minute past, but the look on Asami’s face last night at his ‘do not disturb order’ must have been scary enough to have Kirishima waiting an entire ten minutes past the ordered time.

 

“Asami sa….” Kirishima trailed off as he saw the state of his boss’s skin, and the cigar.

“What is it Kirishima? Do I have something on me?” he teased his stunned second.

“I.. ummm. No.” he shifted anxiously before going on, “Boss, I got word from Yoh this morning, he says they’re in Tokyo at the same hotel as Mikhail and co. Mikhail invited Feilong tonight.”

“What?” Asami stood, suddenly remembering the report on Feilong and Akihito kissing in Hong Kong.

Within seconds, he was dialing Akihito’s number.

*****

 

Why was this happening to him? All he wanted to do until tonight was have another shower, get into some clean clothes, do this mornings reports and paperwork, and then snooze.

 

But no, instead he found himself stuck with Mikhail and Feilong in his room, still in last nights blood stained clothes, at least he’d had a shower at Asami’s this morning. Fuck, that was a nice shower, which was his only saving grace right now.

 

He couldn’t get changed for fear of Mikhail or Feilong bowling in on him in the bathroom, which was more than likely to happen, and if they saw the hickeys all over his stomach and ribs, then they would both fly off the fucking handle and the boyfriend questions would begin anew.

Which is something, which for some miracle, that hadn’t been brought up again since Fei’s first question.

Luckily at that point, Mickey had come in to make sure Akihito was back in time, and was currently barraging Fei with questions about how his flight was and other bullshit that Akihito didn’t really give a fuck about.

Why couldn’t they catch up in Mikhail’s room? Ugh!

His phone buzzed in his pocket, growling thinking it was more problems with Colombia, he answered without even checking who it was.

“What is it now?!” he snapped, his orders this morning had been pretty damn clear, if something else had gone wrong he was going to Colombia himself to sort the mess.

 _“…..Who are you with right now?”_ Asami drawled menacingly from the other end.

“Oh fuck, it’s you. My bad. Err, I can’t talk right now.” Akihito said, cursing as he saw Mikhail and Fei look at him nosily from their conversation.

“Is that him, Akihito?” Feilong quirked his brow, a smile tugging at his lip.

“Oi! Akihito’s boyfriend, I will find you, and if you’re not good enough, I will fucking castrate you!” Mikhail shouted loud enough for Asami to hear.

“I’ll help, fufu.” Fei’s musical laughter tinkled through the bedroom, and Mikhail’s amusement joined his.

Damn, here we go again.

 _“Who was that other person, Akihito?”_ came the question in his ear.

“It’s not anyone.” He spat to Asami and Feilong both.

“You’re a bad liar.”

_“You’re a bad liar.”_

Feilong and Asami said at the same time, while Mikhail just sat laughing, twirling Feilong’s hair as they laughed like teenage girls on Akihito’s bed.

Akihito took a deep breath, exhaling his frustration at the mess he found himself in, and walked from the room to talk with Asami.

“Mwahaha, you can’t keep it from us, Akihito!” Mikhail shouted before the door shut.

“Great, now I have two of the nagging fuckers to deal with.” Akihito muttered as he walked through the living quarters of the suite and outside to the hall, where Feilong’s man Yoh was standing guard.

Akihito waved a quick greeting before walking down the hall to try and find a place not crawling with mobsters so he could talk.

 _“Who was that?”_ Asami asked again.

“Ugh… nothing can ever go fucking smoothly for once can it? Noo.. it’s just too much to ask. First my shipment in Colombia, then Fei and Mickey team up. Tonight is gonna be a fucking blast, lucky me!” Akihito narrated sarcastically.

_“So Feilong is there then?”_

“Yup… How’d you know? He hasn’t been here long.” Akihito asked.

_“…. I have my sources.”_

“You have a mole.” Akihito deadpanned, not impressed, that meant someone in Fei’s organization was a traitor, and while they worked for Asami, a traitor was still a traitor, and Feilong was still an important person to him, anyone important to Mikhail was important to him.

 _“Maybe I do, maybe this mole also told me about you and Feilong kissing hmm? Care to tell me about that?”_ Asami sounded pissed, and Akihito couldn’t help but laugh despite the question.

“You… Fuck me days! You’re jealous?!” Akihito sat down on one of the couches in the hotel lobby, his frustration fading.

_“I am not.”_

“You are, oh, haha how damn cute!” Akihito teased.

 _“Did you just call me cute?”_ came the monotone question.

“Fuaha, I did. Seriously though, it’s nothing. So just chill alright, I don’t need three of you barking at me. Tonight’s gonna be enough of a shit storm as it is.” Akihito said seriously.

There was a sigh on the other end, Akihito sat tense, waiting for the reply that would either make the night harder or easier, depending on what it was.

_“Just remember to whom you belong, Akihito.”_

“Yeah yeah yeah, we established all that in the early hours of this morning. Not like I could forget, especially with my sore back.” Akihito replied sardonically, though he relaxed anyway.

 _“Fufu, you’re right. And with the nice color coming up on my neck, it will be quite clear that I belong to someone too won’t it hmm?”_ The man taunted, chuckling still. Akihito seriously fucking loved that sound.

“Shit. What are you going to say?” Akihito asked.

 _“Don’t worry, Akihito. I’ll handle it.”_ Came the confident reply, soothing Akihito’s rising concern.

“Ah, thank fuck for that.” Akihito sighed.

_“I’ll see you tonight.”_

“Yeah, thanks, see you.”

 

*****

 

Asami hung up, in a better mood than what he was when he’d called, Akihito had this way of turning his moods that Asami couldn’t explain, and he found his anger about the information to do with Feilong diminished the longer he spoke with Akihito.

The Blonde might have been an excitable gun wielding Arbatov, but a liar was something he was not. If he said it was nothing, then it was nothing, on his part anyway.

He could cut Akihito a break tonight, especially for the favor he’d done Asami in wiping out Sakezaki.

 

Plus it was clear he was mortified of the possibility of Mikhail finding out before he was ready.

It was going to be a long night, Akihito being so close but not being able to touch, not being able to talk with him like they had this morning.

He genuinely enjoyed Akihito’s company, which is not something Asami could say for any of his bed partners before this.

He wanted to spend more time with the Russian, he didn’t want to go back to acting like people who’d just met, perhaps they could meet afterwards again tonight.

Yes, Asami would make it happen.

 

“Asami sama. Shall we proceed tonight as planned plus Feilong then?” Kirishima asked, who was still standing there, though schooling his features now.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“….Boss, is there something I’m missing about you and Akihito Arbatov?” Kirishima asked, thinking about the conversation he’d just listened to.

“We’re together.” Was all his boss said.

 

“Oh shit….” Said the surprised once more Kirishima, his mind reeling, putting the puzzle together.

For his boss to say something like that, and the things he said to Akihito on the phone, last nights talk at dinner about Akihito having a boyfriend, which was about his boss.

Akihito trying to avoid it, and for good reason, Mikhail Arbatov’s reaction to his little brother dating someone wasn’t exactly pleasant, then there was the matter of tonight. Feilong, the report from Yoh about Akihito and Feilong.

Just… shit, some warning would have been nice.

“Oho, you swore Kirishima. Does it shock you that much?” Asami asked after a puff on his cigar.

Kirishima just left to follow orders without saying anything, his boss had such a sick sense of humor.

 

 

 

*****

 

“It must be serious.” Mikhail said, with a hint of darkness after Akihito left.

Feilong sighed, “He is an adult, Mikhail.” Rolling onto his stomach to look at the grey eyes filled with all the force of an impending storm.

“He won’t tell me.” The Russian pouted.

 

“I’m not any happier than you about it, but what does it matter if he’s happy?” Feilong tried to reassure the distressed older brother.

 

“It’s my job Fei, to protect him from everything, it always will be. No matter how old he is.” Mikhail clasped his hands behind his head, resting against the headboard with a pensive look on his face.

 

“You say that, but you know he thinks the same thing towards you. He would die for you, Mikhail.” Fei said earnestly.

 “And I would die before I ever let that happen.” Mikhail shot back, meaning it.

 “God, you two are just as bad as each other.” came the exasperated remark.

 Mikhail moved his hands from behind his head, folding them with a classic Arbatov pout, “You keep saying we’re the same, but you never look at me.” He said with feigned hurt.

“Mikhail, don’t be like that.” Fei said.

“I demand a hug to make me feel better.” Mikhail insisted, holding his arms out like a huge child.

“Mikhail…”

“Hug me, or you never see Akihito again.” Mikhail smirked, he was playing dirty, and he knew it would work.

  
“….You’re impossible.” Feilong spat, but he sat up anyway, and was ambushed by the smiling Russian who pulled the smaller man into his arms, grasping the nape of his neck to bring their lips together, while his other hand traveled downwards to knead a handful of Feilong’s ass.

Feilong gasped at the sudden violation, unable to fight the larger man who took the chance to plunge his tongue into his mouth, caressing the inside of his lips until he probed deeper to massage Feilong’s tongue with his own.

The frustrated Chinese fought back the only way he could, otherwise powerless against the muscled frame beneath him that was still keeping him captive by his ass and neck.

He bit down on the inside of Mikhail’s lip, drawing blood and startling the blonde into letting go and holding his sore mouth.

“Owwww, Fei!”

Feilong extracted himself immediately, kneeling in between Mikhail’s legs and placing his hands on his hips, scowling.

Mikhail’s face lit up as he watched Feilong, happy with the result of his bold move.  
“You say you don’t like me Fei, but that pretty blush on your cheeks says otherwise.” He said, smiling with mischief.

“You asshole! It’s because I couldn’t breathe. I was suffocating! And where did you think you were touching?!” the scowl deepened, and Mikhail’s smile got bigger with it.

“Don’t lie, Fei, you liked it. You have such a nice ass.” The happy Russian taunted.

“Ugh, your brother would never do such a vile thing! Akihito is a gentleman.” Feilong spat as he stormed out, a smug Mikhail tasting the blood on his lip left from Feilong’s bite.

“One day, my Chinese dragon, you will realize that the only Arbatov for you is me.”

“Go to hell!” Feilong shouted before the door slammed shut.

 

*****

 

 

The day passed without much more incident for Akihito, who just hid in Axel’s room most of the time.

He did manage to have another shower and get into clean clothes, tight black jeans, black t shirt and a brown leather jacket, before they left for the casino though.

Suoh was currently escorting their group that consisted of Europeans and Chinese to the private bar and tables that they were going to be spending their evening, where Asami was currently waiting for them.

 

Despite Asami telling him not to worry in that manly voice of his, he couldn’t help but fucking worry, shit, he couldn’t wait for tonight to be over.

 

In all his goddam life, he’d never felt such a lack of control, so in over his head, it was exciting and disturbing at the same time, there was the thrill of the secret, but then there was the overwhelming sense of dread of Mikhail finding out in the worst way. He actually didn’t know how his brother would react, and that was the scariest thing.

His worry over Mikhail’s reaction overrode everything else. It always would.

He shared a glance with Axel, before walking through the door and into the most dangerous situation he’d ever encountered in his life.

It didn’t get off to a very good start….

 

 

Seeing Asami standing there, immaculate and powerful in a perfectly tailored suit, hit him like a punch to the gut, how could you be this much more attracted to someone after one night? Not even sexual attraction, just the need to be close, just to touch, to talk and laugh like they had this morning. Tonight was not going to be easy.

His brother was also another reason for that.

 

“Oho, look at that whopper on your neck Asami, you got a feisty one eh?” Mikhail asked Asami the moment he saw the marks above the man’s collar.

“You have no idea, Mikhail.” Asami smirked, the smile reaching his eyes as he flicked a glance at Akihito before greeting everyone properly.

He watched Feilong and Asami shake hands, civil but not friendly, though Asami showed more hostility than what Fei did, and Akihito could guess why.

The Russian cringed inside, escaping the situation by going to sit on a couch with Axel, if he just stayed away then it would all be fine, right?

Fucking wrong!

Feilong just happened to follow him over and sit next to him on the other side of the couch, Yoh stood at his shoulder behind him.

Which meant that Asami and Mikhail came over to sit on the opposite couch, Kirishima and Yuri behind them.

Why couldn’t they just piss off and leave him alone? Everyone should just piss off.

 

“You have a lover then?” Mikhail questioned, curious.

“I have a partner, yes.” Asami drawled before he took a mouthful from his tumbler, pleased as he saw the gratified glean in Akihito’s eye, he looked magnificent this evening.

“What?!” Feilong and Mikhail asked at the same time, heaps snapping towards the Japanese boss.

Akihito couldn’t help but feel a little damn happy at Asami referring to him as his partner, even if no one knew it was him.

“Woah, just woah! You? Partner?” Mikhail scoffed, “Who the fuck is it that _you_ of all people would say that?” he said, throwing his hands around, sloshing the gold liquid in his own glass.

Feilong leaned forward with interest, completely forgetting Akihito next to him.

 

Ah, so Asami was drawing the attention to himself and away from Akihito, fuck, he really did owe the man now. Not that he would mind repaying him. Not at all.

Asami didn’t sat anything, choosing to take another mouthful of whiskey, gold eyes sparkling at his entertainment.

“Is it anyone we know?” Feilong queried.

Everyone in the room wondered what Asami would say to that, the ones who were in on the secret, and the ones who had no clue.

“Perhaps.”

Akihito could have laughed, he could see that Asami was having fun with this, the cheeky fucker. He looked so self-satisfied, so handsome. Fuck, it was going to be a long night.

Mikhail huffed, “Come on, Ryuichi!”

 

“It’s safer for them to remain unknown at this point.” Asami said, honestly, because it was true, and Akihito felt a little less worried.

 

“Oi, if you think any of us in this room would use that information against you, then what the fuck are we even here for? You and Fei have your differences, but we’ve all been in this together since we each came to power. So it’s actually fucking offensive you know.”

There goes Mikhail, his words hitting right on the truth, as far as Akihito knew, everyone in this room could be trusted with the information, so technically there was no reason at all for Asami not to tell anyone here.

Feilong voiced his agreement.

The silence stretched out, and Akihito’s heart began thrumming a stupid fucking tune in his chest.

“Just leave it, Mikhail.” Feilong said, leaning back into the couch, “if Asami doesn’t want us to know, then he isn’t going to say anything.”

“Argh. Fucking bullshit if you ask me. Partner my ass.” Mikhail scowled, though his tone said he wasn’t going to press any more.

Akihito relaxed, and felt Axel do the same next to him. One down, however many more to go.

 

An alert went off in his pocket, one he’d been waiting for all day, news on his shipment of heroine in Colombia that had to be re routed because of border problems.

He passed the phone to Axel, who gave a pleased grunt at the news before handing it back to Akihito.

“Trouble, Akihito?” Fei asked him, placing his hand lightly on his leg.

“Na, just a small set back on the Colombian border.” He answered with ease, not minding the hand on his leg, Fei had always been touchy but it was never in a bad way, they were still friends after all.

 

“Feilong.” Mikhail warned, and Akihito could see the snarl wanting to voice itself on Asami’s face at the contact, a harsh reminder of the fucked up situation.

“Oh, Mikhail, give me a break.” Fei said, retracting his hand and folding his arms. “Plus I bet I’m much better than this boyfriend of his anyway.”

He just had to fucking go and say it didn’t he. Akihito groaned, throwing his face in his hands. He missed seeing Asami’s hand tighten around his glass, Kirishima scuttle off to find a distraction, and Axel just took a long scull of his beer. Drinking himself out of the situation.

“I swear Fei…” Mikhail warned again.

 

“I know, I know, you’ll cut my balls off, you’ve told me a million times before.” Fei rolled his eyes before turning back to Akihito and ignoring the two disgruntled crime lords sitting opposite him. “How are you finding the South Americans Akihito? They’re a stubborn lot, even worse than you, fufu.” he asked with genuine interest.

 

Akihito always enjoyed talking with Feilong, and since it was about work, he talked with Feilong as he usually would.

“Come on Fei Fei, I’m not half as bad as that jack ass sitting across from you.” Akihito poked his tongue at Mikhail, who poked his back with a grin, before answering the question. “You know, they’re all good, just hold a gun to their head and they fall in line pretty quick, they might bark a lot, but when push comes to shove, they’re all pussies. If they play up, just shoot ‘em and everyone cleans up their act.”

Mikhail’s chest swelled with pride, and Feilong smiled at the ease with which Akihito talked about business, he’d had come such a long way since they first met. “You’re doing well, Akihito, better than me, I could never stomach them.”

“Of course he fucking is Fei, he’s my little brother.” Mikhail justified his little brother’s awesomeness.

Akihito threw his head back to look at the ceiling in order to hide his grin, he didn’t often get compliments outright from his brother, but when he got them, they filled his chest near to bursting, adding Feilong’s on top of it was too much. In this situation it was fucking embarrassing, he felt like a goddam kid.

“Oho, he’s smiling, so cute!” Feilong took the chance to pinch Akihito’s cheek hard, leaving a red mark.

He slapped Feilong’s hand away, “Ouch, Fei! Don’t…” he trailed off as he saw the look of outright rage in Asami’s eyes. Oh… woops. Guess that was too far.

 

Asami seethed, his blood was boiling, the ease in which Akihito talked to Feilong, smiled with him, called him _‘Fei Fei’_ and let the Chinese man touch him, had Asami ready to pull his gun.

So it was nothing was it? It didn’t look like nothing. Feilong thought he’d make a better boyfriend did he? He fucking seethed alright.

And the way Mikhail let it happen made him even more furious, the three had a special relationship, tied to each other in some way that Asami didn’t know about, and Asami didn’t like it one fucking bit.

 

The only thing that really stopped him, was the heart stopping smile he gave when his brother praised him, a reminder of how important Mikhail was to Akihito, yes, that stunning smile was the only thing that kept Asami in check.

Until Feilong pinched his cheek, he was about to crush the glass in his hand and shoot them all, but before his control could go any further down the gurgler, Kirishima, bless his four eyed soul, came back to announce the poker table was set.

 

It broke the awkward silence that Akihito left with his unfinished words, Fei, Mikhail and Asami moved off to play and their conversation erupted into things related to their business, the latest model weapons out, the newest drug on the night club scene and its revenue expectations, Asami sat himself so that he could look at Akihito unhindered with out it being obvious, glancing at the blonde who was making a ruckus with his man Axel on the other side of the room, they were going to break the table with their games shortly.

Akihito was laughing, smiling, and just being Akihito, it was near irresistible, not just to Asami.

The Japanase man fought back a growl every time Feilong’s eyes traveled Akihito’s way, it wasn’t often, but it was still one time too many.

He was definitely going to claim Akihito once more after this. He would get him alone any way he could.

 

 

Akihito listened to what his brother and the other two talked about before trying to calm down again, it was things that every one could talk about, things that Akihito found extremely fucking boring, but extremely fucking awesome, because boring was safe.

Business talk was safe talk, talk about boyfriends or lovers was not, but it didn’t come up, so he sat with Axel and played cards with his friend, beer in hand as they told each other lame jokes in between dealing,

 

An hour went by, Axel and Akihito were playing a rather violent game of snap on the table in between the couches, slamming their hands down with all the force they could muster, while everyone else played boring fucking poker like a bunch of old farts. The bosses sat at the table, with Yuri, Yoh and Kirishima attending their bosses behind them.

Akihito risked a glance at said table across the room, to find a predatory gaze staring at him with hunger and obsession, making the hair on his neck stand on end, his body heating with the fire in that gaze.

“SNAP!” Axel brought his massive hand down on top of the card pile on the table, bringing Akihito back to attention.

“Oi” his friend muttered to him, “if you look at him like that, it’s gonna be pretty fucking clear who the boyfriend is. Get a hold of yourself.”

 

“Fuck… Shit. Thanks.” Akihito sputtered, trying to clear his now muddled thoughts, without much success, fuck all the man had to do was look at him, and he was gone.

“I’m going out to cool off.” He said, getting up.

“Want me to come?” Axel made to follow.

“Na, it’s all good, I won’t be long.” Akihito chugged back the last of his beer and left the room, avoiding the eyes trailing him as best he could, though he could feel a particular set bearing down on him, muddling his thoughts further. Dammit.

 

“Where you off too?” Mikhail asked over his hand of cards.

 

“Just taking a piss, am I allowed to do that much?” he shot back.

“Oho, someone has their period!” Mikhail laughed.

“Suck my dick, bastard.” He deadpanned.

“I’m not into incest, thanks for the offer though.” Came the sardonic reply.

Akihito laughed as he remembered the paintball talk at Asami’s this morning, he could see Asami smile over the rim of his glass, probably at the same thing. Damn, he looked so fucking good.

 

“I’ll do it for you, Akihito.” Feilong purred, bringing Akihito out of his downward spiral of thoughts.

 

“Feilong!” Mikhail, Asami and Akihito all glared daggers at the chuckling Chinese who was pleased with the reaction he’d elicited.

Akihito couldn’t tell who was more irritated at the words, Asami or Mikhail, but they were both fucking pissed as hell.

 

Kirishima looked about to pass out, and Yuri looked nearly as mad as Mikhail.

Axel on the other hand, was laughing his merry drunken ass off on the couch in the corner, oh he’d help Akihito, but he’d still have a laugh at his expense if he could.

Yup, it was time to get the fuck out.

“Oi, shit biscuit, don’t go far, dinner will be served soon!” Mikhail voiced as the near panicked Akihito shut the door behind him, and made his way to the toilet down the hall.

 

He sat in a stall with the toilet lid down, muttering his frustrations to himself for a while, deciding it was time to go when he heard noises of someone else coming in. No one wanted to hear the ravings of a bat shit crazy Russian.

He steeled himself, determined that nothing would go wrong and calmed his nerves as he stepped out.

He only managed one step out of the toilet stall when he was pushed back in and the door shut behind him once more.

 

“Fuc-mmm” Akihito’s startle was cut off as a very fierce looking Asami pressed him against the door with a hand over his mouth.

The blonde brought his hand back out from his jacket, moments away from cocking a gun against the head of the perpetrator.

“You wanted someone to suck your dick hmm? Why didn’t you just tell me?” the man drawled dangerously, Akihito shivered and his heart started going fast all over again, his hard won self calm vanishing with Asami’s touch.

They stood staring at each other, becoming breathless with the prolonged eye contact.

Akihito was losing it, staring into those gold eyes that wanted to own him, claim him. He wanted more, he wanted to be claimed.

“Who do you belong to, Akihito?” the man hissed, oh he was angry still, jealous even, Akihito guessed.

He shot the man a cheeky glare, grasping the front of his suit to bring him closer, his other hand travelling down to let the man know what he wanted. He palmed Asami’s massive erection, Akihito’s own dick hardening as the man shut his eyes and groaned at the touch.

That sight alone doomed Akihito. Asami was so fucking hot that it hurt.

 

He rubbed harder, and was rewarded with the hand coming away from his mouth, to be replaced by Asami’s lips, long dominating kisses with a teasing tongue, setting his body on fire, fuck he needed more, he tried to slip his tongue in, and whined in his throat when Asami pulled away with a smirk, but his eyes were still savage.

“You’re mine.” Asami declared with another chaste kiss.

“I am.” With that, Akihito began undoing Asami’s belt, crazy with the man’s musky scent in his head.

“Behave, Akihito.” The man whispered, pulling away again.

“I don’t want to.” Akihito said, raising himself on the balls of his feet to teasingly nip at straight jaw presenting itself to him.

“Mmmm. Don’t be naughty.” The man hummed, even though his hands were now trailing up and down Akihito’s body, stopping at his pants to undo his belt and then down his briefs.

“Oh.. fuck yes, Asami.” Akihito breathed as a large hand wrapped itself around his dick, he clutched onto the expensive suit pressing against him.

“You need to be punished.” Asami said severely into his ear, “How do you want it?” he pumped Akihito slowly, his own lust raging inside him as the blonde arched his back into his hand.

“Fuck me, Asami.” Came the breathless reply.

Asami lost it, his own name never sounded so good before, but when Akihito said it like that, with those words, all his frustration and anger flew out the window, only to replaced with an intense need to fuck Akihito senseless.

He didn’t plan on this, he was only meant to remind Akihito that he belonged to Asami, but nothing with Akihito ever went to plan.

 

He spun Akihito round, pressing the blonde’s face and body hard up against the toilet stall door, caught both slim wrists in his hand, and trapped Akihito’s arms against his back, rendering Akihito helpless, his body caged between the wall and Asami.

 

The Japanese man pulled Akihito’s pants and briefs all the way down to expose the globes of his perfect ass, massaging a soft check as Asami pressed himself against Akihito, rubbing his hard on up and down between Akihito’s soft cheeks, teasing Asami as bad as it teased Akihito, who was gasping with each slow grind of Asami’s crotch.

 

“You want me to fuck you right here, in public, with your brother just down the hall hmm? Fuck you so hard you scream my name, and then everyone will know the truth. I’ll do it.” Asami whispered as he undid his pants, breathing in the scent of Akihito’s hair, which only made him hastier, more irrational with his need for Akihito.

He had no control when it came to this particular Russian. He was utterly powerless.

“Do it,” Akihito hissed, his nerves bristling with excitement, “fill me up, and punish me.” he pushed his bare ass back, spreading his legs as an invite to the now lust addled Asami, who pushed himself in with a quick rut of his hips, sinking his dick all the way in, a groan rumbling in his chest as bathed himself in the welcoming flesh, still loose from last night.

“Oh, Akihito, there isn’t enough punishment for the things you do to me.” He said as he started moving, pumping long slow strokes, letting Akihito’s wrists go so the blonde could brace himself against the wall.

“Faster.” Akihito huffed as he pushed himself back onto the cock penetrating him in leisurely thrusts, driving him mad with the pace.

“This is your punishment, Akihito, I’ll fuck you however I want unless you beg for it.” Asami threatened, hot and menacing into Akihito’s ear as strong hands placed themselves on top the smaller ones on the wall.

“Fuck you, bastard.” Akihito choked, rocking his hips back, trying to go faster.

“Beg me Akihito, beg me to come inside your ass, so that all night I’ll be inside you.” Asami slowed down, before slamming in with one strong snap of his hips.

“Ah fuck, more!” Akihito pleaded, resting his head against the wall.

Asami stayed buried balls deep, fighting the need to pound into that ass, he was going to make his Wildcat beg for it.

“Beg me, Akihito.” He gave the hands under his a squeeze, entwining their fingers.

“Fuck you!” Akihito retorted, craning his neck to look behind at Asami with open defiance, his hazel eyes shining with need and stubborn pride.

Fuck, there goes Asami’s plan of making him beg, those eyes did things to Asami that he couldn’t explain, stripping away all his legendary self control in seconds.

So Asami set a relentless pace, both men fighting to keep their noise down as their gazes stayed locked, the intensity building the longer their eyes met, the longer Asami kept drawing out only to slam back in with everything he could, Akihito rolling his hips back in time perfectly to meet him.

Asami was beyond caring, he wanted to hear his name off those lips, he wanted to make Akihito scream, letting go of Akihito’s hands, he gripped Akihito’s hips in a painful embrace and angled himself to ram the head of his cock against the spot that made Akihito see stars.

“Ffffuck, Asamiii” Akihito whined quietly.

Yes, that’s what he wanted to hear, “Louder, Akihito, I can’t hear you.” holding those slender hips in place, he hit that spot inside, over and over again, fighting back his own release as Akihito’s insides twitched around him.

“Haa, As..sa..mi” the blonde moaned, desperate, and louder now, loud enough, “Good boy” Asami rumbled as he reached around to stroke Akihito’s leaking member, their bodies flush now as Akihito lost his rhythm and came all over the wall.

“Oh, god, Asami!” he cried, clamping down on Asami’s cock deliciously, milking Asami for all he was worth as he shot his load deep into the young man’s insides, the high feeling of his release flooding his body as he bellowed his pleasure, “Mmmm, so good, Akihito.” He whispered, slowing at last, staying inside as they both caught their breath.

“Fucking good.” Akihito agreed between breaths.

Asami chuckled, regretfully pulling out and helping Akihito clean himself up, before zipping up and straightening his suit.

He looked down at his disheveled partner and had to shut his eyes, god Akihito looked so edible, his face flushed with the look of someone who’d just been fucked, no Asami, a quick one would have to do.

The others would be wondering what was taking them both so long.

Asami had supposedly stepped out to take a call, and it shouldn’t take Akihito this long to go toilet.

He wrapped an arm around Akihito’s slender waist to pull him in for a quick kiss, “I’ll go back now, you wait a while so your face stops looking so adorable, heh.” He kissed the blonde again quickly, to silence his protests and being called adorable.

“Dick. I'll show you adorable.” Akihito said once his mouth was free.

Asami’s chest shook with silent laughter, “See you shortly.” He whispered before stepping out.

 

He found Axel standing outside, his stoic face standing guard, waiting for his boss.

“You’re fucking lucky it was me that came and not anyone else. You guys made a damn racket.” The tall man muttered, irritated.

“No harm done.” Asami drawled simply.

“Yeah, and it’s my damn job to make it stay that way, so check yourself before you fucking wreck yourself.” Axel growled protectively.

“Are you threatening me?” Asami stepped closer, glowering at the Russian who was taller than him, the same hulk-ish type as Suoh.

“Take it as you like, but it you fuck up my boss’s life cos you can’t keep your dick in your pants, then it won’t be Mikhail you have to worry about.”

Asami had to give it to the young man, only a year older than Akihito, Axel could stand his ground, and give as good as he got, which only made sense, since it was to do with Akihito. They both had the same priorities.

Asami quelled his instincts to lash out and make the mad submit, it would be a stupid move, Akihito would pick Axel over Asami any day, he knew, and Axel and Asami did have the same intentions, to protect Akihito. It was Axel’s reason for existence, an urge that ran deep, and it was Asami’s job as his lover.

“He’ll be out shortly, make sure he doesn’t look too messed up.” Asami said, in a mutual tone.

“He can sort himself well enough.” Axel said, confident in his boss, the pair stared for a while and came to a silent understanding that they were both on the same side, so Asami left and rejoined the poker game.

*****

 

Akihito waited ten minutes to calm down and sort himself out, catching his breath and straightening his clothes before stepping out and finding Axel waiting in the hallway, he should have known his right hand man would be there, always looking out for him, no matter what it had to do with.

“Let’s head in, it’s been long enough.” Akihito said, clasping his friend on the shoulder in silent thanks.

“Sounded like a good fuck.” Axel taunted as they walked the hall, jumping away from Akihito’s right hook.

“Haha missed me!” Axel said, before he opened the door to let his boss in before him, who landed a playful punch in retaliation before walking in, all eyes on him, oh fuck.

 

“What the fuck took you two so long?” Mikhail demanded as they all settled at a dining table, where dinner had been set and everyone was waiting for them.

Akihito sat down, next to Feilong unsurprisingly, Axel on the other side of him.

Asami was opposite him, and Mikhail opposite Feilong, just fucking great, everyone in a tight bunch.

His mind fought for a valid excuse as he settled in his chair, a little gingerly.

He couldn’t say business trouble, because then they would ask, he couldn’t come up with anything that would keep him out of the room for that long, except for….

“My partner rung, so we had a chat.” He said, nonchalantly, using the same word Asami had to refer to him. It was kind of true, if fucking in a toilet stall was considered that.

Axel, and Asami’s heads snapped up to glare at him, Kirishima sighed, who was sitting in the seat on Asami’s right.

Yuri bristled next to Mikhail, Yoh looked at everyone in confusion, who was sitting on Feilong’s right.

“So you admit you have one?!” Mikhail and Feilong exclaimed at the same time.

Ugh, he should have known this would be the fucking result.

Asami chose this moment to step in, “Mikhail, Feilong,” he said, sounding impatient, “could we stop the talk of lovers for the night and get on with the meal.” It wasn’t a question, Asami sounded irritated enough to make it an order.

“Fine.” Mikhail and Feilong sulked at the same time.

“This isn’t over Akihito.” Mikhail said, as he dug in to the Japanese food with his chopsticks.

“Shut up and eat, douche bag.”

“I know you are, I said you are, so what am I?” Mikhail said around a mouthful of food.

“God, you actually said that, you really went to the school of fucktards and graduated top of the glass didn’t you?” Akihito said, picking up his chopsticks.

“Hey, the school of fucktards is a a pretty prestigious place. You’re jeal-”

“You two, shut up!” Feilong said in a hissy tone, the one that always made them shut their traps.

“Party pooper.” The brothers glared at the Chinese man, who just rolled his eyes.

“How you two manage to work together is beyond me.” Feilong said as he started eating.

“We work together better than you hold your chopsticks. That’s for sure.” Akihito said as he saw the Baishe leader’s awkward hold on the utensils.

“Well sorry, Mr I speak perfect Japanese.” Feilong retorted, hiding his lack of grace with the Japanese eating tools.

“Oi, just let me show you, dipshit.” Akhihito laughed, snatching the tools from Feilong and showing him properly.

 

Asami kicked him under the table, and Akihito kicked him back, he wasn’t going to change how he was around Fei just because the man was jealous, he’d have to deal with it.

Feilong might be annoying sometimes, especially when he teamed up with Mikhail, but above all that Fei was still a good person, as good as a Chinese Baishe head could get anyway.

 

Just like that, Asami’s ire was back, all over the way Feilong could make the pair stop bickering, and over a pair of chopsticks, Asami knew Akihito was his, but the young Arbatov and Feilong seemed so familiar, talking with the ease of people who had known each other for a while, and Asami was annoyed because he couldn’t talk with Akihito like that, yet.

He was being ridiculous, he knew that, but he couldn’t help it, he knew he had to just be patient and wait, so he reigned himself in and continued on as he usually would.

 

The rest of the dinner went by without much incident after the chop stick debacle, though he could see Asami was still pissed about it, that man had a huge jealous streak, which Akihito would love to play with any other time but now, so he ate quickly, exhaling with satisfied relief as the table was cleared from waiters that popped out of no where.

He had a full belly, a nice ache in his ass and a good in Dutch beer in hand, perhaps tonight would be all good.

 

 

They were on there way over to the couches in the corner of the room, when Akihito realized he’d stupidly had too much to drink, the combination of full belly, tired body and frayed nerves had it affecting him more than he’d like to admit, so he tripped on nothing on the way over, and who would catch him but a laughing Feilong, grasping him by the waist and holding on a little too long before helping him upright and letting go. Mikhail just sighed behind them, but Asami growled low in his throat, causing Mikhail to raise a brow at the unsettled man in curiosity.

“Oho, had too much booze, brat? Want me to carry you back to your room?” Fei teased, the pair unaware of what was going on behind them.

“Shut up, you Chinese mouth rapist!” Akihito heckled back.

“What!?” Mikhail jutted in, Asami just stood incredibly still, he knew the pair had kissed, but if Feilong stole a kiss from Akihito then it was a whole new matter, his vision was slowly turning red.

“Oh never mind, Mikhail.” Feilong waved him off, before turning to tease Akihito some more. “You liked it anyway. Fufu.”

“Feilong…” Asami and Mikhail both warned low. Once again, Mikhail looked at Asami, wondering about the seriously mad cast to his features.

“I did not.” Akihito defended himself, hoping to clear up the rapidly deteriorating scene which he was no aware of.

“Says the one who kissed me back.” Came the careless reply, the reply that lit the fuse in the cow shit.

“What the fuck?” Mikhail and Asami both thundered, everyone in the room flinching at their lordly tones.

“You said it was nothing, Akihito!” Asami hissed, grabbing his wrist.

“Oi, the fuck you think your doing Asami? What’s this?” Mikhail glowered at the pairs connected limbs in front of him.

“IT IS NOTHING!” Akihito shouted to them both, snatching his wrist back.

“Don’t tell me it’s nothing!” They both roared again.

 

Everyone in the room was on edge now, Axel looked about to rip someone’s head off in his inability to stop the snowballing disaster, Yuri had his hand in his jacket ready for a weapon, Kirishima looked between Mikhail and Asami. Gauging the situation and texting Suoh with frantic fingers.

Feilong and Yoh just watched the entire exchange on red alert. Hands at the ready also.

 

“It’s nothing!” Akihito snarled, no, this was not fucking happening right now.

“Then what is it?!” once again they said at the same time, curse crime bosses and their similar ways of thinking.

“Argh fuck!” Akihito cursed, clutching at his hair in uncertainty, and fear, lots of fear.

“Akihito, are you ok?” Asked the only person in the room who still seemed to have their head, Feilong, who placed his hand on the small of his back in genuine concern.

That was it. The final straw for Asami.

 

“Keep your hands off, Feilong.” Asami snarled, dangerous and low, his hand reaching inside his jacket to take his weapon out, only to be stopped by a very distressed Akihito, who grabbed his arm in earnest.

“Don’t, Asami.” Akihito pressed, drawing all eyes to him.

 

“What the fuck is going on, Akihito, Asami?” Mikhail questioned, not taking his eyes off Asami, who only had eyes for Akihito, who still had his hand on Asami’s arm.

 

Akihito could barely hear due to the blood pulsing in his ears, on edge as everyone in the room stared at him expectantly.

“Tell him, Akihito.” Asami urged low, and Axel growled behind him, manic at his boss’s discomfort.

“Tell me what?” Mikhail interrogated.

 

Akihito just stood in between them all, absolutely fucking stymied, there was no way out of this. He was stuck.

 

“Akihito.” Mikhail and Asami said in unison, who then turned to glare at each other at the fact.

“Your brother and I are seeing each other.” Asami said in a matter of fact tone after Akihito didn’t say a thing.

 

“Like fuck you are, that’s not even a funny joke. Akihito?” Mikhail turned to Akihito, expecting a denial, which he didn’t get.

 

Instead he just got silence, a confirmation of Asami’s words.

 

“Oh fuck no!” Mikhail boomed, his fuse blowing as he brought his gun out quick as a flash, the full force of the leader of the Russian Mafia bearing down on the room, while everyone else just stood in silent shock.

The brilliant mind of the mob boss put it all together, the marks on Asami’s neck, the text messages, the conversation last night, Akihito being more stubborn than usual, their trip to Japan one month ago.

It all fit, and Mikhail would make it un fit.

“You.. You coerced my little brother?!” Mikhail snarled, flailing his weapon in furious motions.

“Mik-” Akihito started, trying to explain.

“I don’t want to hear it, Akihito!” Mikhail barked.

Akihito flinched with the force of his words, and snapped his mouth shut, there was nothing he could do now. It was out of his hands.

 

Feilong, the ever-sensitive and level headed Chinese could see Akihito’s unease, it was writ on his face plain as the anger on Mikhail’s was. An angry Mikhail and a hurt Akihito was not something Feilong ever wanted to see between these two brothers, even if he might disapprove as much as Mikhail.

 

“Mikhail… calm down.” He said gently.

 

“Calm down?! Calm down you say Fei?! How the fuck am I meant to do that, when this fucking bastard is playing with my little brother.”

Mikhail boomed with what he thought was justified anger, glaring at Asami, who’d been standing still the entire time, his eyes laced with concern at Akihito’s reaction, Akihito had shut right up with Mikhail’s words, there was no fight in him. This was bad.

“I’m not playing, Mikhail.” Asami said coolly.

 

“Don’t fuck with me! Playing is all you’re capable of! I know you Asami, I know what you’re like, you are not fucking worthy to even _lay_ a finger on Akihito.” Came the clipped tones, Mikhail was no closer to putting his weapon down, his anger rising to self destruct levels.

“Mickey…” Akihito stepped up to his older brother with a grave mask on, trying to keep his composure in the face of Mikhail’s wrath.

“No, Akihito. Out of _all_ the people you could have picked, this is the one person that doesn’t fucking fly with me. We’re leaving.” He said with finality, rousing Asami from his patient stance and waking the possessive dragon.

 

“Akihito is mine!” he thundered, grasping Akihito’s wrist once more.

 

“Get your filthy hand off my brother.” Mikhail drawled low and menacing, pressing the barrel of his 9mm into Asami’s suited chest, all the seconds present stood thunder struck, all torn between drawing their weapons and adding to the hostility or tackling Mikhail to stop him from making a huge mistake.

 

Akihito stood frozen, not because he was torn, but because Mikhail was angry, truly angry with him, his heart clenched in his chest, the feeling of failure wracking his body.

 

Feilong watched the toxic triangle with worry, Mikhail was nearly beyond the point of no return, a hairs breath away from starting a never ending war between to power house nations.

He could see Akihito’s duress, his mortification, not a face he ever wanted the bright Arbatov to show.

He needed to take Akihito out of the equation to diffuse it all.

“Akihito.” He began softly “Lets go.” He said, holding his arm out to rescue the young man.

“Stay, Akihito.” Asami urged.

“Go, Akihito, it’s a fucking order!” Mikhail barked.

 

Everyone in the room saw the impact the words had on Akihito, they watched the words hit him with a force harder than any physical blow could ever deal. An order was an order.

 

The young blonde extracted his wrist from Asami’s hold, composing himself as he did so, ignoring everything and everyone except Mikhail.

“I’ll be waiting on the plane.” He said, impassive, before striding out with measured steps with Axel at his heel.

 

Asami watched the small back as it disappeared from view, his fingers twitching with the empty hand that moments before held Akihito’s wrist, his feet itching to storm after the Russian that walked out with one word from his brother. This he would not have.

 

“Don’t even fucking think about it, if you touch him again, I’ll scalp you. You understand?” Mikhail said, twisting the barrel into Asami’s chest.

“Mikhail, that’s enough.” Feilong spoke clearly, stepping in between the two, who were about to erupt.

 

Asami sneered behind him, “He is mine, Mikhail.” Furious that Akihito had been sent away.  Furious that Akihito had been hurt, and furious that Mikhail dare forbid him to touch Akihito again.

“Shut up, Asami, you have made enough of a mess of this as it is.” Feilong snapped, and he was right, if he’d just kept his cool none of this would have happened.

Akihito wouldn’t be in this situation.

“Put the gun down, Mikhail.” Feilong said with sway.

 

Mikhail’s finger twitched on the trigger, proof of his indecision, the moment dragging out painfully until he grudgingly lowered his weapon in resignation.

“I don’t know what the hell you think you’re playing at, Asami. But I will not have my brother on your retinue of call girls, you fucking got that?”

“Is that what you think?” Asami boomed, stepping forward now, “You think I am playing do you, you think I’d let just anyone mark me like this? You’re a fool, Mikhail!” Asami all but breathed fire in his rage, finally free with the weapon gone.

 

“Stop!” Feilong shouted, his commanding tone bringing all eyes to him, he might be smaller than the two he was standing in between, but his voice could overpower them all with his regal tone.

“This is not the time to have this talk, Akihito is waiting, you need to sort this out, Mikhail.”

“Fuck.. whatever. Let’s go.” Mikhail bristled under Feilong’s scrutiny, the power the Chinese man had over Mikhail evident.

Mikhail began stalking out, a very tense Yuri in tow.

“I am coming for him.” Asami drawled as he lit a Dunhill.

The Russian mobster turned in the doorway, “If you do, I will kill you next time.” It wasn’t a threat, it was a promise, a promise everyone knew Mikhail would keep.

Suddenly he was gone, leaving Feilong and Yoh with the two remaining Japanese men.

“You have really done it this time, Asami.” Feilong sighed before walking out after Mikhail.

Yoh stood there, looking at Asami and at the doorway, waiting for orders from his real boss.

“Keep me updated Yoh, tell me anything and everything that happens.” Asami ordered.

Yoh just bowed before walking out, leaving a concussed silence in the private room.

 

The color began to come back to Kirishima’s face, relief at last now that the threat was over. He began to text Suoh to get the men to fall back, a troop of men were waiting at the ready in case the situation did explode, but it hadn’t, Kirishima was relieved alright, three crime lords arguing was not something he ever wanted to see again, he would hate to see what it would have been like if Akihito put up a fight.

His relief was short lived however, because Asami wasn’t done giving orders, his heart sunk, and a feeling of impending doom washed over him with Asami’s next words.

 

“Ready the jet, Kirishima, we’re going to Russia.”

 


	13. Chapter 13

 

 

 

*****

 

 

“You could have handled that better.” Yuri said as they stalked out of the casino, Akihito had already ordered a car for them, and it was waiting out front for the pair of Russians as soon as they were out the door.

“Handling it better would have been shooting him.” Mikhail said with vehemence.

They waited by the car for Feilong and Yoh to arrive.

 

“Mikhail, pull your head in” Yuri growled down at his nephew, the only other person apart from Akihito or Feilong who could ever talk to him like that.

“What the fuck is with you?! Normally you’re worse than me!” the crime boss glared at his uncle, on the edge of sulking.

 

Yuri sighed, and rubbed his temple to relieve some of his tension, god, these two brothers were worse than their father, his brother.

“You didn’t notice did you? You’re just like your dad, you don’t see anything when you’re mad.” Another weary sigh.

“What, spell it out for me then old man, Asami Ryuichi is a player and he would have tossed Akihito aside like he does everyone else! How could it be any more clear than that?” Mikhail shot back, indignant that he might have missed something. If Mikhail ever missed something, Yuri _always_ picked up on it.

“Yes, and Asami Ryuichi is also a proud man, and not once did he make a move to defend himself once you pulled your gun. You think he’d normally let you get away with that in his own city?” Yuri folded his arms across his chest and looked down at the man he’d practically raised with an expectant look.

It was miniscule, but Yuri saw it, he saw Mikhail stiffen for a split second, his brows pursed in thought, before it went back to a look of stubborn defiance while they waited for Feilong and Yoh, who’d just come out of the building.

“It doesn’t matter.” Mikhail said with dark confidence, “I’ve known Asami long enough, worked beside him, drunk with him, to know his habits with lovers, and that is something I wont ever even have in the same fucking sentence as Akihito.”

“You could have handled that better.” Feilong snapped as the pair arrived at the car.

“Oh my fucking god! Is everyone against me!?” Mikhail threw his hands up in exasperation as the four started getting into the limo.

“I’ve already said as much.” Yuri said to Feilong.

“Oh? And what did he say, ‘should have shot him instead’ or something like that.” Feilong knew Mikhail all to well, and his antagonizing tone said he wasn’t happy.

“Fei! You know what he’s like as much as I do!” came the defensive accusation as the limo pulled from the curb.

“I do, but Mikhail... you pulled a weapon on an ally, and it’s clear you hurt Akihito. Those are two important relationships you need.”

Everyone listened to Feilong’s words, spoken with earnest.

It was Mikhail’s turn to rub at his temple now, firm circular motions with his index finger, as if doing so would justify his actions.

“Yeah, but doesn’t mean those two things don’t need to be in a relationship with each other.” Mikhail reasoned back, calming down slightly now that people were presenting him with valid arguments.

 

Feilong sighed, “I never said that either. Fix it, Mikhail. However you can. All it takes is for one wrong person to hear that you had a fall out with Akihito or Asami and people will start trying to poke holes. You know what it’s like.”

Mikhail looked out the limo window for a long time as the scenery sped past, deep in thought, he knew what Feilong said was right, what everyone said was right, but a stubborn Arbatov would never admit it.

“Akihito will get over it, I’ll appease Asami with a few free shipments and give him access to some of my routes, that should be enough. But if he comes to Russia, I’m blowing his plane up.”

“Mikhail.” Feilong and Yuri deadpanned.

“Alright, alright! I’ll just have his plane turned around, fuck. Happy now?” he stared back at all the eyes looking at him in the limo, glaring with his own grey lenses. Only with these people could he feel cornered.

“You need to talk to Akihito, too.” Yuri pushed as the vehicle pulled into the parking lot.

“Argh! Alright, I will. Fuck, you guys drive a hard bargain.” Mikhail was the first to get out of the car, away from everyone, he didn’t even bother waiting for the chauffeur to open the door.

“Wait, Mikhail.” Yuri paced up behind the pensive crime boss, after looking at a message on his phone.

“What now?!” Mikhail snapped.

“That was Vlad, he said Akihito and Axel have already organized the men and seen to moving the luggage onto the plane, they’re all waiting at the airport.”

“Ugh, why does he have to be so fucking efficient even when after what just happened.” Mikhail cursed, before walking back to the limo with Yuri, which Feilong and Yoh were now getting out of.

“We’re off, Akihito has already sorted everything out.” Mikhail announced, regretful that his time with Fei had already come to an end after only a day.

“Don’t be too hard on him, Mikhail.” Feilong warned with a light touch on Mikhail’s arm before he sat back in the limo.

“We’ll sort this out our way.” Was all Mikhail said before he shut the car door, and the limo pulled away.

 

Feilong stood with Yoh, staring at the black vehicle as it rapidly got smaller the further it drive off down the street, “I don’t know if I want to be there for that conversation or not, it’s terrifying when they fight, but just as bad when they sit quiet and ignore each other.”

“Should we have gone with them, Feilong sama?” Yoh questioned, that’s what he wanted to do, he would have liked to know the outcome of Mikhail and Akihito Arbatov’s talk so he could report back to Asami, he had little to give Asami sama other than what was spoken in the car.

Feilong seemed distant as he looked at the spot where the car disappeared, “No, I think I’ve done enough for one night. If I had known, I wouldn’t have been so flippant. Asami’s possessive streak isn’t famous for no reason, but what people don’t know, is that Mikhail’s is just as big.” The pair turned and made their way into the hotel lobby, making calls and getting their own organization ready to go back to Hong Kong. There was no reason to stay in Japan now, not with the mood that Asami was in.

 

 

 

*****

 

 

Back at the hotel, Asami walked back and forth across the room in precise steps, he wouldn’t call it pacing, a crime lord didn’t pace after all, but he was as close to pacing as he’d ever be.

He’s had his phone attached to his ear the moment Feilong was out of the room, calling Akihito.

He hadn’t picked up once.

Asami couldn’t decide to throw his phone at the wall, or keep trying in his vain attempts to reach out to Akihito. The look he saw on Akihito’s face for a split second, after Mikhail ordered him out, Asami never wanted to see that face again, he also never wanted to see the closed off young man, cold and impassive, that walked out of the room.

He decided to keep his phone intact, and kept trying to contact Akihito.

He still hadn’t picked up.

No one walked away from him, no one, especially people he actually wanted to keep. He was having none of it.

 

 

*****

 

 

 

Akihito stood grim, with Axel, Vlad and Kristof at the airport, waiting for Mikhail and Yuri.

Vlad and Kristof both knew what’d happened, there were never any secrets between them, close as they were, so Vlad and Kristof had begun rounding the men up and transporting luggage the moment Axel sent the text that the shit had indeed hit the fan.

Vlad and Kristof knew that Axel would be pissed, and he was, he was fuming, so they did all the preparations and told people to avoid the big man lest they find themselves punched in the gut.

They could also see Akihito had shut himself off, his clenched jaw, cold eyes and barked orders told them everything they needed to know, it had gone bad, really, really bad.

 

Now they all just waited, waited for Mikhail to turn up, apprehensive at the brothers meeting, hoping nothing would go wrong any further, no one wanted to see the brothers arguing, firstly, because it was shit scary, and secondly, because they were the core of their organization, for their to be strife at the top was never a good thing.

They were all nervous as they waited, though you could never tell from outwards appearances. They’d all choose to deal with Mongolia, or the Ukraine, rather than go through a fight with the Arbatov’s.

 

Akihito winced as his phone received a text message, he knew who that would be, his phone had been ringing constantly for the last half hour. He checked, and sure enough, the name on the screen said Sexy Dragon, he still hadn’t bothered to change it since he found out his real name.

Sexy Dragon: _‘Call me.’_

Akihito didn’t so much feel like replying right now, still pissed that the man felt the need to announce it when Akihito said he would take care of it. Now look what fucking happened.

He ignored the message, and braced himself as Mikhail and Yuri got out of the car that had just pulled up on the tarmac, it was dark, and he couldn’t help but think his brother looked a little foreboding as the headlights of the car lit his silhouette.

 

To everyone else though, Mikhail and Akihito looked like birds of a feather, as they came face to face, unruly blonde hair, jaw set firm, eyes set even firmer, Akihito was determined not to show weakness in front of Mikhail, his hazel eyes not giving an inch as he set himself up to take a berating from his brother.

“Leave us.” Mikhail ordered, and the men, including Yuri, reluctantly made their way towards the plane and up the steps, Axel, Vlad and Kristof each taking one last look back before they went and sat down in the luxury private jet.

“Akihito.” Mikhail started, the wind whipping his wavy blonde locks in front of his eyes for a mere moment, giving Akihito reprieve from the severity he found in his brother’s gaze.

Shit, Mikhail stared down at his younger brother, he never knew what to say in these situations, he couldn’t help it his brother always seemed to attract assholes, if he found someone nice, Mikhail would be all for it.

This time though, it was Asami. Asami, who fucked people just to get his end off, Asami who had never had a fucking relationship in his entire life, of course he wouldn’t bloody believe he would be serious about his crazy younger brother who was Asami’s polar opposite, not to mention 12 years younger, and even if he were serious, Asami was such a power hungry, monopolizing man who’s ambition outweighed everything else.

Relationships were meant to be equal, and Asami wasn’t capable of treating anyone that way.

No way in fucking hell would he let Akihito be subjected to that sort of shit.

He exhaled a breath he didn’t even know he was holding, he was Mikhail Arbatov, he shouldn’t be uneasy about anything in his goddam life, but here he was, giving his little brother ‘the talk’.

“Listen to me, Akihito.” He began softly.

“You don’t need to say anything, Mickey.” Akihito said, sounding bored, like he already knew what was coming.

With that tone, Mikhail knew this was pointless, there was no way he could get through to Akihito in the current mood he was in, he knew that mood all to well, their family was famous for being stubborn, the Arbatov before him now was the epitome of that stubbornness.

With a resounding sigh, Mikhail decided to let it slide, not willing to push Akihito any further into a corner.

“We’ll talk about this when we get back.” Mikhail promised, before walking towards the plane, as the engines started to fire and the lights along the wings came on.

“If you say so.” Akihito shrugged noncommittally, he looked at his ringing phone one more time, before turning it off without answering and following Mikhail up the steps.

 

It was going to be one quiet trip back to Moscow.

 

 

*****

 

 

 

Yoh had been right in his report, their plane had been turned from every point of arrival, no matter which air traffic route they took, their plane was denied access and given an alternate landing location.

That was how Asami found himself seething still, one week later in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, trying to figure out how on earth he was going to get into Russia, and then to Moscow from there.

Asami wasn’t a man to give up, he would to everything in his power to get a hold of what he desired, but in Europe he had no power, Mikhail’s influence reigned supreme, there was nothing he could do, except sit and wait until Mikhail gave air traffic control the ok to let their plane into the country, it was lucky they even made it into European air space to begin with.

Normally, Asami would have balked at spending so much time outside of Japan, but with the incident with Sakazaki still fresh to everyone, Japan was as quiet as it had ever been, there would be no annoying pests popping up for a long time, so Asami was set for the long haul in Europe, much to Kirishima’s and Suoh’s unspoken regret.

They weren’t comfortable with the notion of letting themselves be sitting ducks in someone else’s domain, even if it was Mikhail, a supposed ally.

 

Once again, Asami was reminded of the kind of ship Mikhail ran, even here in Belarus, no one accepted his bribes, no one would tell him anything, Mikhail had sent the order out, and everyone obeyed.

Moscow was just over an hour’s flight away, so close, but they may as well have been on opposite ends of the earth.

 

It was a stark reminder of how much power Mikhail had, and in turn Akihito, the reason he was here.

He hadn’t heard from him for the entire week, Asami was want for those text messages and late night phone calls, he’d grown used to them over the past month, and found himself checking his phone unconsciously still.

 

He sat in his hotel room on the top floor, staring out the window down at the busy streets of Minsk, plotting his next move when Kirishima came in with the phone in his hand. “It’s Feilong, Asami sama.”

Feilong was the last person he wanted to talk to, the Chinese was probably calling to mock him in his failed efforts to reach Akihito, when all Feilong had to do was make a call and a chauffer would be waiting for him at Moscow airport when his own jet touched down.

“He says he can help, Asami sama.” Kirishima pushed at his boss’s hesitation to take the phone from his hand.

Stubbing his cigarette out, grinding the butt into the ashtray a little harder than usual, he turned to take the offending device.

“What do you want Feilong?” he asked, his blasé voice masking his testiness.

 _“That’s no way to talk to someone who is offering to help, Asami.”_ Feilong said defensively.

“Why would you help me?” came the jaded question.

_“Because despite me telling Mikhail to sort it out, he isn’t, so by getting you into Russia I’m going to make him. Don’t think I’m doing this for you, it’s just that none of us can afford you two being at odds with each other, Akihito included.”_

“What’s your relationship with Akihito?” he questioned as he went to sit in a chair in the corner of the suite.

 _“Is that all you have to say after what I just told you?”_ came the indignant reply.

“…..”

There was a long sigh, Asami could almost picture Feilong’s face, frustrated with his brows pinched, _“Asami, as much as I like Akihito, oh don’t growl at me, let me talk, he’s not once reciprocated my advances, I’m happy enough to be in his company.”_

There was another long silence, neither men spoke for a while, until Feilong sighed yet again, and asked Asami a question this time, _“Asami, are you actually serious about him, because if you’re not, then you’re just causing trouble no one needs.”_

Asami thought for a long time, before giving his answer, what was he doing here if he wasn’t serious? “….I am.”

_“You are what?”_

“Serious.”

_“Ugh. As much as I don’t want to, I believe you. Asami, if you ever mess it up, or hurt him, or treat him like everyone else you’ve been with, you know what will happen don’t you? It’s not Mikhail I would be weary of, it’s Akihito’s men.”_

Asami just grunted his understanding, he knew, his talk with Axel, the watchful look the men Vlad and Kristof had given him the night of their dinner before the Sakazaki incident.

Akihito didn’t have just one brother, he had many.

_“I’ll be flying into Minsk later today, we’ll take my plane from there, because I have clearance for Mikhail’s personal airstrip. I can get you to the Arbatov estate, but from there you’re on your own, so be a good boy and no fighting.”_

“Feilong.” Asami scolded.

_“Fufu, you’re too easy Asami. I’ll see you this afternoon, be ready.”_

 

With that, the phone clicked off, and Asami was left with a way into Russia, right to the Arbatov’s front door.

He would be seeing Akihito today, at last.

 

*****

 

Feilong’s plane touched down as promised, it didn’t take long to get Asami, his men and belongings on board, and the plane took off again shortly after.

The Japanese contingent were a little apprehensive on the flight, expecting for the plane to be turned back regardless that it was Feilong’s and not Asami’s, which was left in Minsk.

It wasn’t though, and not soon enough, Asami and his men were pulling into the gates of the sprawling Arbatov estate in the hills of Moscow.

A huge traditional stone mansion with a pillared entranceway had multiple storied wings on each side of the central building, adjacent to the mansion, was a helipad and set further back was a hangar that Asami guessed house the choppers and vehicles that belonged to people that lived here.

Asami never did believe that most of Mikhail’s personal men lived at the estate, but with the size of the estate and the blocks of buildings at intervals up the long drive way had him confirming that it was indeed true, and that must mean Akihito’s own personal men must live here two.

He’d walked right into the tiger’s den, but it was ok, he was a tiger too.

 

The armored vehicle they were in pulled up to the front door, where Mikhail and Yuri were waiting, Mikhail not looking happy to see Feilong for once in his life.

Asami didn’t care, he wanted to know where Akihito was. He asked as much the moment he got within speaking distance to the peeved Russian.

“Where’s Akihito?”

Mikhail crossed his arms nonchalantly, “You’re shit out of luck, he’s not here.”

“Where is he?” Feilong and Asami asked at the same time. Everyone was standing at the double door entranceway now, Mikhail refusing to invite them in.

“He’s overseeing a shipment through Syria on its way to Egypt, he’s been gone all week.” Yuri answered for Mikhail, before gesturing for them to come in.

“I’m not staying,” Feilong stayed where he was, “I only did this so you two would stop sulking and talk to each other.”

“I am not sulking!” Mikhail pouted, “thanks a bunch, Fei, can’t fucking trust anyone anymore.”

“Oh shut up! Sort it out or I’ll take Akihito for myself and you’ll both never see him again.” Feilong pointed an accusatory finger at Mikhail, and then at Asami, before swiftly turning and getting back into the armored four-wheel drive where Yoh was waiting.

“Ugh, I’m fucking stuck with you now. If it were up to me you’d still be in Belarus.” Mikhail glared at Asami, before stalking off across the foyer and down a wide hall way with elaborate carpets, ornate paintings and chandelier light fixtures.

Asami wondered in what part of the house Akihito’s quarters were, that was something he’d have to find out.

 

Asami followed Mikhail while Yuri oversaw Kirishima, Suoh and a handful of Asami’s men, showing them to the guest wing, where they wouldn’t be staying, according to Mikhail. Yuri said they were welcome however, not willing to strain the relationship between the two organizations further but not showing hospitality, even if he didn’t like the fact Asami was here for Akihito.

“Tell me why I should even let you set a fucking foot in my household, Asami.” Mikhail said gravely as he pushed a door open to an expansive sitting room, with high ceilings and floor to roof windows that looked over the back hills of the estate.

The furniture was set up as such that you could talk while still over looking at the view, Mikhail went over to a nearby drinks stand and poured himself a scotch, not bothering to offer Asami anything before he sat down and looked out the window.

Asami poured his own drink, taking the crystal lids off the decanters and smelling each spirit before he found one that had scents to his taste, a nice aged whiskey.

He perched the glass in his palm, making his way over to the opposite settee, with wooden frame work and satin lined cushioning, the Arbatov estate was old, but pristine still, he wondered what Akihito’s room was like.

Mikhail spoke up after a period of rigid silence, his eyes looking at nothing in particular as he gazed out the window, he was determined to stay calm this time as he offered Asami recompense for his actions in Tokyo.

“I’ll tell you what I told Feilong, you can have a few shipments on the house, access to some of my routes as you please, and that’s it. No more of this fucking bullshit that you’re seeing my brother, because you’re not.” Mikhail tipped his glass back and drunk the finger of scotch in one go, hissing as the alcohol burnt his throat on the way down.

He still swirled the empty glass in his hand, fighting to stay collected at the thought that the fucker across from him dared show his face in his city after he tried to claim Akihito in front of him.

“I don’t want free shipments or routes, Mikhail.” Asami said honestly, looking out the window also, trying to maintain his composure, he was in Akihito’s home, the last thing he wanted to be doing was sitting with Mikhail, when he could go and see the place where Akihito lived, worked and slept.

“Well guess we’re done here then. Thanks for the visit.” Mikhail flicked his wrist, dismissive, as he made to get up.

“Sit, Mikhail.” Asami all but snapped, he’d been waiting an entire week to get here, only to find Akihito gone and Mikhail brushing him off. It was taking everything he had not to explode, but that’s what he’d done at the casino, and it obviously hadn’t worked the first time.

It was pointless to try it again, and both men knew it, which is what kept them civil, though it was more like a Feilong forced truce.

 

“Watch what you say, you’re in my house now, Asami.” Mikhail promised, darkness oozing from his tone as he sat down anyway, throwing one leg over the other and looking Asami directly in the eye this time.

“What the fuck do you want then huh? Some territory? A year’s supply of opium? You can-”

“I want Akihito.” Asami interrupted.

Mikhail stopped, his body tensed, gritting his teeth as he held back a snarl glaring a violent promise at the Japanese man sitting across from him.

“You’re still trying that bullshit with me, Asami. You can’t just say you want him like he’s some _thing_ you own. He’s not like all your fucking bitches-”

“I know he’s not.” Asami cut him off again.

“You don’t know shit!” Mikhail’s hold on his empty glass threatened to shatter the expensive crystal at any moment, “You don’t expect me to believe that you, Asami fucking Ryuichi, actually wants a relationship with anyone, let alone my 23 year old mental case brother.” Mikhail placed the glass on the floor now, opting to clasp his fingers together in front of him.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Asami questioned rhetorically through a tightly clenched jaw.

“No it’s not fucking obvious, when I doubt you know what a relationship even implies, since you’ve never even had one!” the threads of Mikhail’s ropes were slowly snapping as he shot up from his chair to look down on Asami, his fingers itching to have a trigger beneath them.

“Don’t take me for a fool, Mikhail.” Asami growled from his chair.

 

“I should have blown your fucking plane up.” Mikhail spat, neither of them were willing to give an inch, grey eyes met gold, a silent battle of wills where both were as strong as the other.

“Asami, I will not have Akihito with someone who doesn’t know how to treat anyone as an equal, let alone you, who throws people aside like they’re nothing.” Mikhail’s voice was back to being calm now, restrained only through an iron will and the fact he knew he couldn’t slip like last time.

“You think I would be here if he was just some thing to me, Mikhail?” Asami shot back, rising from his chair now.

“You know what an equal relationship means do you, Asami? No sleeping round, you would be his as much as he’s yours. You can’t just do whatever you want, and we both know you’ll always do that. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me if you expect me to believe that you’d let a 23 year old Russian leash you, because that’s what it fucking means!” Mikhail had given up on keeping his cool now, and his voice rose in volume as he got to the end of his rope.

The situation was on the verge of exploding once more, Asami’s mouth opening to snarl something that would only heat the room further, if only Yuri hadn’t run into the room, his expression enough to send the room plummeting back to it’s normal temperature.

“What is it Yuri?” Mikhail asked the instant he saw his uncle had run into the room, Yuri didn’t run, and Yuri never showed open concern on his face, but he was now.

“We just got word from our men in Vladikavkaz that look after the border, Mikhail, Akihito’s convoy got ambushed in Syria.”

The room’s temperature continued plummeting as Yuri kept on talking. “They managed get cross the Border to Turkey for someone to radio for the Black Hawks to come and chopper them out, but…”

“But what?!” Asami and Mikhail stood tense, their previous anger forgotten as they both focused on one thing only, Akihito.

 

Asami’s heart was clenching in his chest, each beat it contracted more, until it was only a hard lump of muscle, forbidding him of the ability to breathe as he waited for more news, beside him, Mikhail stood impassive, though inside he wasn’t doing any better than Asami was.

 

 

Yuri delivered the rest of the report hastily, as if saying the words fast would be ripping the band aid off, getting it over and done with.

“Mikhail, there have been casualties, nearly a dozen and counting. Akihito and Axel are MIA.”

 

  


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Info (rough):  
> A Chinook is a carrier helicopter, 90ft in length with two 60ft rotor blades on each end, capable of carrying large vehicles and up to 60 troops.  
> A black hawk is a carrier/fighter helicopter (I’m pretty sure) that is capable of carrying up to 15 men.  
> An Apache is a twin pilot helicopter built solely for combat and attack.  
> IED is an improvised explosive device.

 

 

*****

 

 

This was the moment that separated the likes of people like Mikhail and Asami from the rest, the moment that defined the true crime lord.

The moment that either took control of you, the fear of the unknown striking indecision and hesitation into the core of your self control, forcing you to make irrational choices based upon useless emotion rather than approaching the situation from a tactical point of view.

 

For people such as Asami, Mikhail, Feilong and even Akihito, this was the moment where emotion fled them, truly became irrelevant, whether your little brother, or your boyfriend(to Asami he still was), was in peril or not.

 

For all they both knew, he could be dead already, or dying at this very moment, but it still didn’t change their thought process.

 

This ability to rise up, to stomp on the panic that threatened to overwhelm and use it as a doormat to step into the realm of a calm state of mind was the difference between Kings and peasants.

 

The difference between those that wore the crown, and those that fell to the weight of such a title.

 

Right now, this moment, two Kings stood in the sitting room that over looked the hills.

After the news sunk in, all previous feeling left the room, any and all animosity gone, replaced by unwavering resolve in the face of their most feared monster.

It was a lie, to say that crime lords didn’t feel fear, because they did, it was how they dealt with that fear that set them apart.

 

Asami watched as the leader of the Russian Mafia became just that, his eyes hardening, his muscles coiling, his aura commanding.

 

Despite their current differences, Asami could still admit that Mikhail was an exceptional man, dangerous, cunning, and deserving of his title.

Their relationship was based on mutual respect for one another, which is why Asami wouldn’t get in the way here, no matter how much he wanted to take matters into his own hands.

 

As Mikhail ran through a million scenarios in his mind, before coming to, no doubt, the best course of action, Asami could only stand back and offer his thoughts when needed, though Mikhail would never need any when he was in his own playground, the blonde snapped back to attention and went into action, giving orders just as you would if it were any normal trade.

 

“Yuri, arrange for the Chinook to come out of the hangar and be ready for Vladikavkaz within the hour, we’ll operate from there, and the moment any of Akihito’s men are picked up, I want radio communication. Do we have Akihito’s last known coordinates?”

 

Yuri replied with just as much calm, over his initial haste to inform his nephew, “I’ve already got Siegfried rousing a troop of 30 to go, 15 of your men, and the 15 of Akihito’s that were off duty, it leaves room for Asami’s men, if he wishes to come.”

Asami nodded his inclination, there was no question that he was going, and Mikhail accepted the fact without any argument, with this situation, he needed someone else like Asami that could stay calm, in case Mikhail did indeed lose it if Akihito was lost to them.

 

Mikhail strode towards the door as Yuri handed him a piece of paper with longitude and latitude numbers on it.

“That was the pick up location for the men that made it out, we don’t know who called it in yet, and we aren’t sure of how many men, information I got from the men at the base at Vladikavkaz said all they got was the code for pick up, that location, number of men lost, and the fact they’d been separated from Akihito, before the signal was cut.”

Yuri and Asami followed Mikhail, who made a small grunt of annoyance at the hindering information, he kept striding down the hall, taking corner after corner towards one end of the mansion, until they came to another open area with multiple doorways coming off it, he opened one door right at the very end, which led into another sitting area, but Asami could instantly tell that this was the beginning of Akihito’s living quarters.

 

It could have been anyone’s room, but once again, Asami was struck with that feeling that he knew Akihito was here, not physically this time, but this was Akihito’s space, his home, the essence of Akihito was here. Just like when he arrived at the penthouse on the night Akihito stayed with him. It felt right to be in this place, despite not having spoken to him in a week.

 

It was furnished modern instead of traditional, the massive chaise lounge the picture of contemporary comfort with a coffee table in front of it, it had a paintball gun on it still, as well as a DSLR camera of all things, which brought Asami back to observing the photos on the walls.

 

Large canvas photos of places Akihito had been decorated the spare wall space, he recognized the one he sent Asami all those weeks ago, the scenery of mountains and a giant lake spreading from one side of the landscape photo to the other, with open parachutes floating in the air beneath him, all the other photos were action shots such as this, all filled with friends, his family, all capturing moments of his life that he deemed important. 

 

 

That was all Asami had time to take in, because Mikhail shot through another door, into a room that came off the living area, it was a long narrow office, neat and perfectly well kept, unlike the living area, with territory maps covering the walls from one end to another.

 

Asami saw what Mikhail came for straight away, there on the wall right next to the massive mahogany desk, was an extensive map of the route Akihito was taking and its terrain.

 

“Fuck, that was meant to be one of my most secure routes.” Mikhail cursed as he saw the green pins that plotted the journey the land train would take, surrounded by yellow pins for potential conflict areas and red pins for places to avoid completely.

 

Asami counted a lot of red pins, a lot, and that was meant to be one of the most secure routes.

  
As if reading his thoughts, Mikhail spoke, cold and harsh, “This isn’t Japan anymore, Asami. My business is an entirely different one to yours. Welcome to Russia.”

This much was true, Japanese and Russian affairs had two completely different danger zones that crossed over in the middle, Asami’s was being undermined politically, people pulling strings on paper and shifting the power behind the scenes.

Where as Mikhail’s biggest worry was direct danger, gunfire, explosives and carnage in general.

 

Asami just grunted his acknowledgement of the fact, and kept watching as Mikhail pinned the coordinates that Yuri had given him, the pick up location of the men who’d radioed in, the point was on the top of the Syrian border, where the borders or Turkey and Iraq met the corner of the Syrian nation.

From there, the route went up through Turkey, Georgia and the Caucasus Mountain ranges before it got to Vladikavkaz where the shipment has passed through on its way from Moscow.

 

The pick up location was where most of the red pins were, and it was only 15 miles away from the closest green route pin, which meant that Akihito and the rest of the men would be somewhere in between those two pins. It narrowed down the search area significantly.

 

“Yuri, have the base at Vladikavkaz send in Apaches to cover the Black Hawks so they can expand the extraction area between these two points. Do we have ETA on the choppers that got sent in?” Mikhail took a quick picture of the map on his phone, and was already walking back out of Akihito’s office and living area as Yuri answered.

 

“Just under 2hours from the base to pick up. I’ve already told them to have a rotation, so we have a pair leaving first and 1 every hour after for consistent arrivals and searching. I’ll tell them to add the apaches now.”

The three men were walking the halls once more, brisk in pace with a sure direction in mind, there were men in the halls rushing to get ready for departure, with combat boots on, cargo pants and bullet proof vests, they were all in the same state of mind as Mikhail, each going about getting ready with cool efficiency. Asami didn’t know where they all came out from, before this it seemed as if the mansion was empty.

“We’ll be leaving once the hour is up, anyone not ready by then will be left behind. We should land in Vladikavkaz by the time they’ve made it to the coordinates.” That said, Mikhail stalked off towards his own quarters on the other end of the mansion to get ready, leaving Yuri and Asami alone in the hall.

 

Yuri gestured Asami to follow him, the opposite way Mikhail went, filling in the details that Asami wouldn’t be aware of on the way to Asami’s guest quarters.

 

“It takes just over 2 hours to fly to our base in Vladikavkaz, it’s an airport compound where we operate our Middle Eastern routes from, so it’s one of our biggest ones, when we get there we’ll have direct communication with the chopper pilots, but we wont have much to go on until then.” Yuri reported to Asami as he would to Mikhail, “we can only hope to get them all before nightfall, or they’re on their own for the night. It’s dangerous enough for the pilots in the daylight, but at night they’ll be open to anything.”

Asami looked at his watch, it would be roughly 4 hours until nightfall, which meant that was 4 lots of choppers heading out between now and then, if they were lucky. That wasn’t many.

“You wont be putting people to ground tonight?” Asami questioned, as Yuri led Asami into his room, where Suoh Kirishima, and 5 his other men were already waiting and ready.

They had all foregone their suit coats and ties, replaced with black Kevlar vests that had been provided by their Russian hosts, this was Russia, where anything could happen, though they might not be going to ground in Syria, anything could happen, Asami and his men knew that.

“No can do, we don’t have enough information to go on yet, to drop anyone on the ground. Once we have the situation, we’ll have them search on foot tomorrow at dawn with air support if we don’t have them all by tonight. I would bet money that Akihito sent the others on to the border and stayed behind to evacuate everyone, before leaving himself, so a simple extraction should be enough.” Yuri sounded sure of Akihito’s capabilities.

 

Despite not knowing Akihito’s tactical habits, Asami had to agree with Yuri that that’s what the young blonde would do, Asami couldn’t picture Akihito ever leaving anyone behind, dead or alive. He remembered that saying, ‘Blood above all’, and knew it would apply here.

 

“I want a spot on the first helicopter in the morning if we don’t have him by then.” Asami declared without hesitation, shooting Kirishima a look that said ‘don’t question me’, before he quickly threw off his own coat and vest, only to dawn the black Kevlar like his men had on.

That was all he needed to do get ready.

 

He might still be in dress pants and shoes, not suited for the terrain, but he’d been in enough gunfights before that his dress shoes might as well be combat boots, and dress pants were easy enough to run in.

 

Yuri knew at that moment that Asami Ryuichi was actually serious about his young nephew, you didn’t just risk your life by offering to drop yourself into the middle of a war zone for someone you didn’t care about, the surety in which he took in all the information and catalogued it without complaint, he could see the heat in his eyes, and he knew that if Mikhail or himself didn’t slaughter the people responsible, Asami would.

 

People like Asami and Mikhail, were wolves in wolves clothing, and whether Mikhail liked to admit it or not, it was clear that Akihito had become part of two packs, therefore merging them both into one.

“I’ll make it happen.” Was all Yuri said before he left them in silence to prepare the rest of the men for departure.

 

During the wait until they left, once again, Asami had to restrain himself from pacing. Smoking cigarette after cigarette in his impatience to get going. This time, it was completely different than waiting for word when Akihito was at Sakazaki’s club, this time it was unknown, beyond his control no matter what he did.

 

Everything to do with Akihito was beyond his control, Akihito himself he could never hope to tie down, the blonde was too feral, to free to let anything of the sort to happen to him (unless it was his job of course), no matter how hard Asami tried.

That lack of control brought fire to his veins, the thrill of the fight with Akihito, not knowing what the blonde would do next, his unpredictability and own inner flame would always, _always,_ have Asami coming back for more.

 

This lack of control though, not knowing if Akihito truly was fine or not, awoke a different sort of fire in him, a vengeful fire, hidden beneath the surface that he would unleash on anything which stood in his way, if it came down to it, he would take his men into the heart of Syria himself tomorrow, he would make sure he was the first to find Akihito, to touch him and make sure he was ok. That much he was sure of.

 

 

 

*****

 

Mikhail cursed inwardly all the way back to his rooms, that route wasfucking secure, he would _never_ send Akihito otherwise.

 

This was Akihito’s first loss under self command, his own judgment, and not a minor loss, over a quarter of the 41 men that left wouldn’t be coming back alive according to the report.

 

This would hit Akihito, and it would hit him hard, Mikhail still remembered his first big loss, he was young, 18 at the time, he remembered the sleepless nights and nightmares when sleep finally decided to come to him, and he cursed again, because sleepless nights and nightmares weren’t something he could protect Akihito from.

 

The spot the ambush would have taken place was too much of a red herring, the fact that it happened to be in the most dangerous part of the route wasn’t a coincidence, if people set it up there it would just look like typical conflict, but Mikhail pegged to be much more.

 

Though dangerous, that route had been solid for years.

 

Either the Egyptians wanted the shipment without paying for it, or a group in that area, from Syria or Iraq thought to steal it, Turkey was out of the question, Mikhail practically owned everything from Turkey upwards.

 

He cursed again, because it wasn’t either of those options, the old man in Cairo had been friend’s of his father, and friends of the family, for as long as Mikahil had been alive and the Syrians and Iraqis knew it was suicide to lay a finger on his cargo, they’d all learnt the hard way long ago.

That is what made the route so secure in the first place despite the war zone, rebels and terrorists alike were more shit scared of the Russians and their firepower than anything or anyone else.

 

That left the only option of the ambushers having a man, or men, on the inside, to tell them information on when they would be passing through.

“Fuck!” he cursed out loud this time, pulling his vest on and strapping it tight, with so little information he couldn’t put it all together yet, did they just want the weapons? Or was their aim Akihito and his men?

 

It had to be the latter, no one in the Middle East had enough money to buy any of the men out just for weapons and risk the consequences, but the head of an Arbatov though, people would pay a fucking lot for that.

 

There weren’t many options, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Saudi Arabia were the most plausible. With Akihito’s help, Mikhail’s reach across the land mass was increasing, and it seemed people weren’t happy about it.

He just needed to figure out who was unhappy enough to go this far.

 

Once he found them, everything they had, everything they were, and everything they would ever be, would be undone by his hands, not a blood relative would remain from the family once he was done.

The thought of desecrating the people responsible, made him genuinely happy, Mikhail smirked to himself as he continued getting ready, physically and mentally as he ran over what he would do to the people once he found them.

 

Once ready, and with his revelations in hand, he begrudgingly headed to Asami’s rooms, he needed to tell the Japanese man what he’d come up with, and it bugged him.

 

It grated on him to admit that he needed Asami’s help right now, because while him and Yuri made the calls to figure out where the trouble was coming from, they would be too busy to oversee choppers coming in and out of Vladikavkaz.

 

It fucking grated on him, because apart from Feilong, Asami and his team were the only other people on the fucking planet that he would trust with the task of overseeing operations to rescue his own flesh and blood.

 

Why would he trust Asami so much? Why?

Apart from Asami being inhumanly smart, ruthless and experienced, Mikhail saw it.

He saw that look of concern in Asami’s eyes before it was swept under the crime lord mask they all wore.

 

He saw that moment of genuine distress the man went through before he reigned himself in, just as Mikhail had.

 

He fucking saw it, because Asami let him see it.

 

*****

 

 

The hour was up, that feeling of deadly calm had carried him through the hour as Mikhail came to his quarters to tell Asami his conclusions, Asami’s mood had grown darker as Mikhail went over each point in private, the severity of the situation rearing its ugly head.

From the information given, Asami came to the same conclusion as Mikhail, it was an inside job.

 

The last fact Mikhail presented him with, that this would be Akihito’s first loss under his own command, only steeled Asami further, it was a big blow, for your first loss to come from the result of betrayal, such a big loss at that.

Whoever was pulling the strings would wish for a thousand deaths once Asami and Mikhail got their hands on them, Akihito was his, and he would wipe the people that tried to take Akihito away from him off the face of the earth.

The man that sold Akihito and his men out however, Akihito would deal with himself, Asami knew his fate would be much worse.

 

After they ran though it all, surprisingly, Mikhail appointed Asami command of operations once they touched down, because Mikhail and Yuri alike would be too busy contacting their connections to commit themselves fully.

The Russian never said why he would trust Asami with something so big, or with so much information, but the Japanese man could guess well enough.

With all that in mind and an agreeable peace between them, Mikhail and Asami finally stepped onto the 90ft long, sand colored helicopter.

 

That sense of stillness before the storm weighed heavy on all the men as they all stood around the aircraft, no one speaking, they had all been briefed, and nothing else needed to be said until they touched down in Vladikavkaz, though it was too loud for words anyway as the whine of the turbo shaft engine started and the 60ft rotor blades on each end started to turn, filling the air with deafening thunder claps as the blades went faster, and faster, whipping fabric against skin as it caused an oppressing downdraft on them all.

 

Asami and his men fit right in as they all boarded, there was no difference between Russian and Japanese right now, even if the Russians were curious as to why Asami was even here.

 

The last man stepped on and buckled himself in, and not soon enough, the giant helicopter was finally lifting off, on its way at last.

 

 

*****

 

 

Mikhail said they could expect an update during their flight there, the first pair of Black Hawks were due to arrive in Turkish air space near the border half way through their flight, and true enough, after an hour, all the men in the chopper looked towards Mikhail as he held his hand up to hold his ear piece firmly in his ear, Asami did the same to the one that Mikhail had given him, covering his ear to better hear over the noise of the twin engines.

 

_“Boss…We have word from the first pair of pilots, 10 men and 13 dead were found at the coordinates given, of the 10 alive, we have 2 critical and the rest have serious to moderate wounds….. Sergei is the highest ranking to be picked up, he said he wouldn’t talk to anyone but Yuri or Mikhail in person. But he did say that Akihito forced the separation as a diversion for them to get out with the dead, and to continue with normal extraction procedures.”_

 

Both Mikhail and Asami looked at each other in understanding, the fact that the man said he wouldn’t talk to anyone else confirmed Mikhail’s theory, it also meant that Akihito knew and told Sergei, or the ambush was that obvious of a set up that Sergei figured it out on his own.

 

Either way, it was favorable news to continue as planned, so Asami and Mikhail sat next to each other for the next hour mulling it over, the feeling that the two bosses gave off much scarier to the men in the aircraft than any conflict situation would ever be.

 

 

*****

 

 

As soon as the Chinook touched down, and the blades slowed enough to allow people to exit without knocking them over with the downdraft, everyone began filing out into the grounds of the airport compound on the outskirts of the outpost city.

 

This place, though it served as a place where the men under Mikhail’s command lived, was nothing like the mansion back in Moscow, this place was a fortress of a building, where they also worked from, and going by it’s size and equipment, the operations out of here weren’t small, as Yuri said.

There was a one-story complex building with a flight tower on one end, next to an airstrip that could land multiple aircrafts at once, there were a few normal cars, but there were also armored 18 wheelers and Humvees in the hanger that opened out onto the air strip.

There was an out of action Black Hawk in there as well, multiple small aircraft, and a pair of F22 fighter jets, sleek and dangerous in all their glory.

 

“Those cost me a shit ton.” Mikhail declared gruffly as he saw Asami admiring them, “but with good pilots, they’ve come in fucking handy.”

He left after that, already putting his phone up to his ear to start his search for information.

 

He left the man under Yuri, Siegfried, with Asami incase there were language barriers, but there didn’t seem to be any once Asami started giving out orders when he entered the control room, the Russians accepting his lead without question.

Even in this part of Russia, everyone knew who Asami Ryuichi was.

 

The pair of Black Hawks would be arriving back within the hour, the one with the living and dead, there were 2 more in the air at different intervals also, with an apache each as cover. It would be too late to send the first pair back after all, so it only meant 3 chances to pick them up, not 4 as Asami first thought.

 

Only 10 minutes Asami had been there, and they got word from the second Black Hawk, the pilot’s voice came over the speaker in Russian, the guttural language that Asami didn’t understand a word of, so Siegfried was forced to translate.

“They picked up another 10, all alive, at the coordinates given for the first pick up, Akihito is sending the men all to that spot when some have a chance to get out, there are enough vehicles for two more lots to get there, after that they will be forced to travel on foot and we will have to search properly.”

 

“Was everyone still alive when they left the remaining 8?” Asami asked, his tone crisp and clear.

He waited for the Russian conversation to take place before Siegfried spoke in English again. “Yes, no more casualties, though Akihito’s and Axel’s vehicles were close enough to initial IED blast that everyone inside took some damage.”

 

Asami catalogued it all, Akihito and Axel maintained command even under duress and injured at that, getting his men out before himself, even if he knew it was a set up.

That meant Akihito and the rest would have a harder time getting out than the rest.

“Have the apache hang back to secure the way out for the last of them, we only have one more chopper an hour off, they need the extra air support whether its been called for or not, I’m not leaving Akihito there for the night.” He drawled the order in thought, once that last black hawk was there, it was out of his hands for the night, they just had to hope Akihito made it to the pick up location or the apache managed to give cover for the black hawk to go all the way in to lift them out.

 

The odds were good, they’d managed 2 for 2, and no one seemed to be panicking, which meant they all knew Akihito would pull it off.

None of it helped Asami’s wrathful mood, however.

 

The order was relayed, and now they had to sit back and wait for the pair coming back, which landed 50 minutes later, organized chaos took control as they landed side by side, the giant helicopters whipping the dust and grit in front of the hangar into a frenzy before calming down again and allowing the waiting men to take their injured comrades from the air craft, some with broken limbs and some covered in blood of their own or someone else’s.

 

Two more died on the 2 hour flight back, which brought the death count to 15, which was 15 too many. Everyone was quiet as they went about their tasks, Akihito’s men grim in the face of losing so much, and being back at base, being able to do so little for those left behind.

 

The man called Sergei limped out, blood plastering his black hair to his face, as Mikhail came out from his office to oversee this part, his mood black as the bodies were taken from the aircrafts and laid down next to one another in death. Side by side even in the afterlife.

 

“Boss, Mikhail…” Sergei huffed, clutching his side and casting a questioning glance at Asami and his men, who were listening. Mikhail just nodded it was ok to keep going, the man relaxing visibly despite his pain.

“They knew exactly where to hit us, if Axel and Akihito hadn’t swapped Humvees when we stopped for a break, they would have been hit in the first blast. Bossman said…” huff ”…. not to let any survivors off base and to keep a watch on them at all times.”

Sergei chuckled without mirth, a cold hollow sound, his grey eyes alight as he recalled events. “Stupid mother fuckers attacked a convoy that was transporting weapons, what did they think was going to happen. The Bossman blew most of them to pieces before they knew what was happening. They didn’t expect him to live and act so quickly”

Mikhail’s eyes lit with pride that he didn’t try to hide, and Asami’s lip curled in a smirk, Akihito had it under control, there was no doubt he’d be coming back on the last chopper.

 

The small rise in mood was lost as Mikhail told Sergei to go and get treatment, and he stepped up to the line of bodies being placed on the tarmac.

Mikhail severely surveyed each face, before writing it down and moving on, not irking from the task but not enjoying it either. As each man was laid in front of him on the concrete, limbs positioned respectfully, the mood only at the base only got worse.

 

Asami stood back with Kirishima and Suoh in silence, merely watching the display.

So many young men with potential, snuffed out. It was the nature of their job.

 

“FUCK!” Mikhail cursed, spitting the word with venom, as he came to the last two, who’d just been put down.

Everyone in the compound stopped what they were doing at Mikhail’s distressed tone, on the verge of cracking.

“Fuck!” came the repeated curse as Mikhail leant down to close the eyes of the two men lying there.

He was angry, he was hurt, not for himself, but for Akihito, this was much worse than he thought.

 

Asami stepped forward, wondering what on earth could have Mikhail’s mask slipping.

They stood next to each other as Asami looked down on faces of two men he’d met before.

Vlad and Kristof.

“Asami?” Mikhail queried after a prolonged silence.

“Hmm?”

There was a thoughtful silence again before Mikhail found the right words, “These two, could you imagine what it would be like to lose Suoh and Kirishima both at the same time?”

 

Asami didn’t need to answer, the question hit him like knife to the gut, Asami was unshakeable, he’d proven it time and time again, his empire was built on the foundations of Suoh and Kirishima underneath him though, for Akihito to lose so much….

“Fuck.” He said under his breath.

 

“Before I gave Akihito his position, before he had so much responsibility, Akihito, Axel, Vlad and Kristof were practically inseparable, they caused so much fucking trouble, I could never decide whether to kill them or join them.” Mikhail narrated, his eyes and mind in a far away place as he remembered, “it’s too early Asami, for him to lose this much.”

 

Asami could only agree, Akihito might be doing fine now, while he was still in the situation, but he’d lost two key figures of his own organization, it was going to be hard on him for a long time, until he found people he could trust enough to fill in the gaps.

 

Everyone began moving once more, hesitant around Mikhail and Asami’s prickly moods, the Russian turned to Asami now, his face stern, but honest.

“Asami, whatever… differences we have right now, are gone. I’ll need to focus on my own business, as well as Akihito’s. He can get through it, he’s a tough little bastard, but it won’t stop people from trying to pull shit.”

“I’ll help.” Asami drawled, as if it were his plan from the start.

 

Rivals would take advantage of the weakness once word got out, so on top of dealing with the emotional baggage of losing so many comrades, Akihito would have to deal with people targeting his business.

Akihito and Axel were in for an extremely, extremely rough time.

The real fight wasn’t now, it would be in the months to come.

 

People would be in for a nasty surprise though, to try interfering in Akihito’s business, only to be met with a very unmerciful Asami Ryuichi.

 

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Mikhail questioned, he didn’t need to explain what he meant by it.

“I am.”

The Blonde sighed, “When this shit is over, you and I are going to have a long talk.”

“Dinner.” Asami shot back.

“The fuck?”

“I want that dinner invitation Akihito told me about.”

Mikhail barked a laugh this time, “Oho, you well get your fucking dinner invite, don’t think you’d ever get out of it so easy, Asami.”

 

“I look forward to it.” It was Asami’s turn to leave Mikhail standing alone, walking back to the control room to wait for word from the last pilot, which was due in an hour from now, the exact same time the second wave was due back.

After that, it would be a long 2 hour wait for the last black hawk, to hopefully come back with the last of the men.

 

 

The hour passed slow, but at last word came through, Asami choosing to stay in the communications room as the other black hawk touched down at base, Akihito wasn’t on that aircraft, so he didn’t care, Kirishima could take care of it.

All he cared about were the words coming over the speaker, in rough English.

_“BH3 back to base, we have 10 man on board, I repeat we have 10 men on board, 8 of ours with two captives. Commencing flight back to base.”_

Everyone let out a breath at the words, and the tension that was hidden in the room, vanished completely.

The silence was cut short, as a new voice came over the speaker, Akihito’s voice, no emotion, just plain command.

_“Arbatov back to base, I want an air strike with the jets, two fly overs, one to blow the shipment up, and the second to blow those motherfuckers to smithereens.”_

The stern voice prattled off coordinates for multiple hit points, before he went back to talking again.

_“…Put me on to Mikhail.”_

Asami took the microphone, he was in charge here, regardless if Akihito wanted to talk to him or not, he would have to.

“Your brother is occupied right now, I’m in charge of the operation.” He said, keeping his tone unfamiliar.

 _“……. tell him, Saudi Arabia.”_ He didn’t sound surprised at all to hear Asami, because he didn’t sound _anything._ He was blank.

Akihito cut the connection on his end, Asami could reply, but there was nothing he could say, not over air, so he left it, Okayed the airstrike and told Mikhail the news.

 

The roar of the fighter jets as they took off was magnificent even from the flight tower, and the speed in which they took off and disappeared from view was even more amazing, that was the only distraction Asami had during the two hour wait for Akihito to get back.

 

It was a long one, but at dusk the last chopper, and a pair of apaches came into view, the noise of the aircraft getting louder the closer they came to base.

The apaches landed far back, but the big black hawk landed on the helipad as all the survivors that were capable of walking came out to greet their boss, who by reports had done a remarkable job of getting that many men out alive.

Many said, that if it weren’t for Akihito’s quick thinking, and Axel’s bravery, they would have all died.

It was an amazing feat, but it didn’t make anything any better.

 

Not to Akihito, Asami could see that.

The world to Asami was silent, despite the blades on top of the chopper still turning as he watched Akihito step off the platform onto the ground, only after all the other men had disembarked with the prisoners confined amongst them.

 

Akihito waved away Axel’s support, who looked to be in horrible shape anyway, his clothes torn, spattered with blood and mud, and not capable of giving any assistance even if he wanted too.

 

Akihito was much worse though, his left arm hung useless at his side, blood and sand plastering his blonde hair to his face, his white shirt soaked in the life essence of himself and his comrades, Asami could see the lacerations on his injured arm, the blood painting his skin down to his fingertips, his Kevlar vest was speckled with flesh, grit, and shrapnel.

His face though, was the worst, his cheekbone was gashed, it needed stitching, and it looked to be bleeding slowly still.

A gash to the cheek wasn’t the cause of Asami’s unease, it wasn’t the cause of Mikhail’s either, as they stood side by side away from the much needed reunion of boss and his men.

 

No, the gash was minor compared to the look in his eyes, that raucous young man was gone, Akihito hadn’t died with his men in the carnage today, but from the look in his eyes, he might as well have.

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Riyadh is the capital of Saudi Arabia
> 
> Not proofread.

 

 

 

*****

 

 

The men that needed to be helped back out of the building from the medical quarters to see their boss were supported by the men Mikhail brought from Moscow, only a few couldn’t come out, due to being unconscious or having too serious injuries, but everyone knew that they would have wanted to, so it was ok.

 

The Black Hawk and Apaches were wheeled into the hangar to be taken care of later, it left the remaining men from the disaster in Syria and the 15 of Akihito’s that had been off duty, standing in the expansive concrete space as the sun bathed them all in a sorry red light, shell shocked, forgetting about their injuries as they all stood watch for their brothers’ last sunset.

 

They surrounded their fallen comrades, some faces nostalgic as they looked down at them, some in obvious pain, physically and emotionally, some men had lost actual brothers in the fire fight, one lost his identical twin, and one lost his little brother.

 

They all though, lost family.

 

From where Mikhail and Asami stood, they could see this was no place for them, as much as they might want to see to Akihito’s injuries.

The way the blonde carried himself, he looked to be in a lot of pain, though from his face you could discern none.

 

Axel and Akihito stood in the middle of them all, both bloodied more than anyone, and stone faced, not only had they lost so many, they had lost their counterparts, the four were a cohesive unit, there would be no more paint ball battles as a team, no more racing to terminal velocity on a sky dive, no more best trick competitions when base jumping.

 

Now they were just Akihito and Axel, who shared an extremely heavy burden.

 

The moment passed as the sun dipped below the line of trees in the distance, throwing the compound into unnatural night as the flood lights came on, turning it into day time once more from the sheer brightness of the artificial suns shining down on them.

 

The men took that as their cue to get moving, the ones reluctant to leave, urged on by the stronger ones, together they all said goodbye and left, the bodies would all be taken back to Moscow tonight and prepared for burial at the Arbatov family cemetery.  


There was one person who stood out though, to Mikhail and Asami both, one who hung back instead of integrating himself with the men, one who walked off just a few steps earlier than the rest.

One who didn’t have many injuries at all.

 

“It’s him, his name is Johannes.” Mikhail growled under his breath.

Asami knew what he was talking about, it was the one who sold Akihito’s men out, from Akihito’s very own troop.

 

Before Mikhail and Asami could step forward, Axel was already on it, and so was Akihito, in their current state of red alert they didn’t miss a single thing, but had deemed paying respects to the fallen more important.

 

Once again, everyone stopped what they were doing, they all knew the ambush was a set up by now, it was so obvious that even the most new recruit could have seen it, and they all looked wordlessly, a wall of blank faces as Axel, injured though he was, summoned the power to hit the base of the traitors skull from behind with the butt of the assault rifle that was strapped across his back moments ago, rendering the unsuspecting man unconscious.

 

Both Axel and Akihito looked down at the man, Johannes, who’d been with Akihito for 2 years, inspecting the slumped form as if he were an ant under a microscope, you’d never think that just the day before, they would have called him a comrade, a friend, a brother, because now he was simply a traitor, the bond they had was severed.

 

“He’s a prisoner like the other two, keep them all separated for questioning, we’ll do that ourselves.” Akihito barked to the fresh men from Moscow, who all flinched in the face of the empty words that sounded so unlike their boss, there wasn’t a moment of remorse on Akihito’s face as he sent his once previous brother off as an enemy.

 

The man and captives were taken away, treated roughly, but kept in tact, Axel and Akihito would be the ones to do the damage, Akihito made that clear enough.

 

Both young men still ignored all help, Akihito walked as controlled as his sore body would let him with Axel at his side, his arm still hanging with his shoulder jutting at an awkward angle, easy to make out the severe dislocation at close distance, to stop in front of Mikhail and Asami.

He threw the Japanese man an unsparing glance, before setting his eyes on the grey orbs of his brother, who was torn between letting Akihito stand strong on his own, or seeing to his every need, which were many right now.

 

Mikhail made his choice, Akihito would open up when he was ready, right now all his little brother wanted to do was close himself off and ignore the feeling that Mikhail knew would be eating him up inside.

 

As much as he wanted to comfort Akihito, to tell him it would all get better, he couldn’t, and it tore him up inside in turn.

 

The best thing he could do right now, was play the boss so Akihito could learn and grow, and not the big brother, who would be needed later when Akihito was ready. He hated these times, when he had to pick between the two.

 

“Debrief.” He ordered, as he always did.

 

So Akihito debriefed as he normally did, he stood with Axel at his side and gave a detailed recollection of what happened from the time the first IED went off, to when the last round was fired, what time who died, and how many enemies were at what coordinates.

Mikhail, Asami, Kirishima, and Suoh all listened as Akihito spoke in a business like manner, his tone indifferent to the men watching him.

 

Akihito got details from in places he couldn’t recall them, until finally it was clear that if not for Akihito. They would all be dead.

 

He explained situations of tactical genius in his half dead state as if it were an everyday walk in the park, Arbatov’s were taught stratagem from a young age after all, but he explained it as if it still weren’t enough, because to Akihito it wasn’t. It would never be enough to Akihito, because his friends had died, and not him. He never voiced those thoughts out loud, but to Mikhail and Asami, he didn’t need to, words unspoken always said so much more in these situations.

 

Finally though, Akihito and Axel were done with their debrief just as Yuri came out with the look of someone who’d just figured out something important.

 

He waited for the indication from Mikhail that he could speak, before looking at everyone in turn and relaying to them all what he’d found out.

“I got a hold of our inside man in Riyadh, it seems the group we took over from in the capital, hired a mercenary group for an exuberant amount of money, an amount of money almost enough to risk killing an Arbatov for.”

Hostile silence took over the conversation for mere moments as the words seeped in, there was no physical reaction from anyone, but from the outside looking in, you could see the heckles rise on the wolves’ back as they all digested the information.

“Fucking mercenary pieces of shit.” Mikhail cursed in disgust, he turned to Akihito then, “so you already began questioning the pair you caught before the black hawk arrived, is that how you knew to send word back?”

Akihito nodded a stark confirmation, “I knew another would be on its way, so we got a few answers out of them before the pick up. No names though.”

Mikhail inclined his head in a motion of business like approval.

“Good, get yourselves seen too, and then finish questioning, and get me those names. I’ll bet my left nut they’re the mercenaries in question, once we know that, those Saudi’s are fucking toast.” Mikhail continued playing the boss, as Akihito began to protest, “the Saudis’ are mine-”

“No, Akihito.” Mikhail cut him off, he had to be hard on him now, the promise of vengeance on such a high scale would cloud Akihito’s judgment, if he let Akihito go too far down that road, then sometimes there was no coming back, and Mikhail would never let that happen.

 

He’d nearly gone down that road himself, when their parents died, the only thing that kept Mikhail from the point of no return was Yuri.

Yuri was there to guide Mikhail back onto the right path.

The ironic thing was though, Yuri learned that very lesson from his dad when their other brother died before Mikhail was even born.

 

Mikhail had to teach Akihito the same lesson Yuri taught him, which Yuri learned from their dad. The only thing that made this all ok to Mikhail, was the fact that he was passing down his fathers’ teachings.

 

“They killed my men, Mikhail.” Akihito flat toned through clenched teeth.

“They fucked with my business, Akihito, as a result I lost an entire shipment. They fuck with me, they answer to me. You know that’s the way it goes.” Mikhail spoke the truth as he looked from Akihito to Axel, he couldn’t change the way they did things, Akihito and Axel still needed to learn that this was business after all, no matter who died.

He’d hoped his little brother and his best friend would learn this particular lesson years into the future though, because the only way to learn it, was the hard way. A vicious cycle of death and education on the harshest subject.

 

Akihito ‘tsked’ in distaste, before as quick as he could manage, turning away, heading off in the direction of the medical quarters, his back held steady and his posture that of a man, not young any longer.

 

The ever-present giant frame of Axel was glued to his side, blood staining the back of his gray shirt underneath his bulletproof vest.

“You did the right thing, Mikhail.” Yuri reassured the mob leader, he knew what Mikhail was thinking more than anyone. It never felt good, to be the one in Mikhail’s position right now.

“Then why was it so goddam hard?” Mikhail groaned, his shoulders sagging with the burden of being boss and brother, and with what he was about to do.

Without looking at Asami, he stared into the night sky beyond their world of floodlights, “Asami, you need to watch him, I can’t do that and play the boss at the same time, but he needs someone just to be _there_ that isn’t Axel, because they will only fuel each other, and you and I both know that wouldn’t be healthy.”

“I would have watched him whether you asked me too or not.” Asami drawled back with indifference.

Mikhail chose that point to look at Asami now, he might have played boss with Akihito, but he could still play big brother with Asami, “I don’t normally give people second chances, Asami, I only am this time because it’s you. So don’t fuck it up.”

Golden eyes flared, “That’s the last thing I want to do Mikhail, and you know it. And those Saudis’ are ours, not yours, they might have fucked with your shipment, but they fucked with my partner, anyone who touches what’s mine, answers to me.”

 

Not patient enough to wait for a reply, Asami stalked off after Akihito and Axel, and where Asami went, Kirishima and Suoh went, so the two young Russians were going to have Japanese shadows until this ordeal was over. Who knew how long that would be, though.

 

Asami signaled Suoh to watch Axel too, it was clear he was in the same state as Akihito, Axel was important to Akihito, Asami knew that much, so it was in Asami’s best interest to watch over Axel just as much as Akihito right now, though Suoh would have watched him anyway, he had a grudging respect for the black haired juggernaut after the night at Sakazaki’s.

 

Asami walked behind Akihito all the way to the head doctors partition, the medical team had already dealt with most of the injured on the first chopper back, so that left more personnel to deal with the smaller amount that got injured on the second and then third waves back, everyone had been taken to a bed in the barrack like building, and there were little people left by the time Akihito gingerly leant against the exam bed, with Asami watching him from the entranceway.

They never said a single word to each other on the walk there, there was nothing Akihito wanted to say, and there was nothing Asami could say, apart from the words exchanged over the flight communicator, they hadn’t spoken since the night at the casino. It felt like so long ago now.

The Japanese crime boss wanted to say something, it’s just that he couldn’t find the right words. It was like kissing, he’d never actually _wanted_ so badly to kiss anyone before he laid eyes on the nameless blonde in Dracaena.

This time, it was with words, words that Asami couldn’t formulate because he’d never spoken them to anyone. Words of comfort to Akihito Arbatov.

All he could do was offer his presence, and stay silent, Akihito would talk first when he was ready, and until then he would wait.

 

Right now, the doctor was examining Akihito, and Asami wasn’t going to miss any of it.

He would file away every cut, every scrape and every bruise, every stitch and broken bone, every lost drop of blood, and he would make people pay tenfold.

 

Before this, Asami never truly understood what it was to want vengeance for feelings sake, he knew to exact wrongs done against him, to eliminate and eradicate people that had double crossed him, he’d always seen it as a minor set back or hindrance.

 

This feeling though, this feeling burning him up from deep inside, turning his eyes a whole new shade of gold as he watched the doctor mark it all on a medical chart, was something new, it filled him with a thirst that he knew could only be quenched with blood.

 

It filled him, and he understood those words, ‘Blood Above All.’ This was it, this feeling of being loyal to someone, as Akihito was loyal to Mikhail and his brothers.

For people like the Arbatov’s it was ingrained into their organization, they grew up with is as they grew up being part of an established organized crime family.

For people like Asami, who built themselves from the ground up on ambition alone, the only loyalty you had was to yourself, that was until now. If this is what it felt like, then the Japanese crime lord could easily see and understand why the Russians were so strong.

 

 

He watched, his keen vision missing nothing as the old Russian doctor tutted when his fingers hovered over Akihito’s cheek, brushing the blonde hair back and finding more scrapes as well as nicks in his ear, all on the same side as his shoulder, from the impact of being thrown against the inside of the Humvee as the IED detonated meters away from them, completely writing off the vehicle but thankfully just far away enough that the people inside survived, the people inside the Humvee that the IED went off directly underneath, hadn’t though.

 

The only response Akihito gave as the doctor silently cleaned out the cut with saline, washing away the clots, causing crimson to well up anew, and trickle down the already stained skin was a silent snarl, followed by a hiss as the needle pushed under the skin when the doctor made the first stitch.

 

The rest of the time his jaw clenched furiously tight, his eyes locked on the back wall as he told the doc to hurry and get on with it so he could get back to work.

The Arbatov’s hot-blooded need for revenge would override any pain, it was the most effective drug there was.

“No time, leave it on.” Akihito snapped as the doctor tried to take his vest off.

“You’re ribs are damaged-”He began.

“Put the shoulder back in and be done with it.” Came the stern order.

 

“Alright then, shove this in your gob so I don’t have to listen to your screaming, because it’s going to hurt like hell.” The doctor groused as he gave up, placing a leather strap in between Akihito’s teeth after Akihito waved away pain relief, he would need something to bite down on.

 

“Mr Asami, I’ll need your help. I need you to pull on the arm, while I guide it back into the socket, I’m too old to be putting shoulders back in.” the doctor said, stifling Akihito’s protest with a painful prod of his shoulder, causing the blonde’s nostrils to flare in pain and annoyance.

 

Dead hazel eyes trailed Asami as he stepped into the partition to stand by Akihito’s side, he knew the last thing Akihito wanted was pity, or for people to treat him softly, and that was the last thing he would give him, so if anyone was going to do this for Akihito, cause him necessary pain, it would be him.

It didn’t stop him threading their fingers together, gripping tight as Asami placed his other hand on the mangled joint, ready to pull.

 

Akihito was looking at Asami now, there was anger there, at Asami being there, or at everything else, at the world, he didn’t know, but Akihito was looking at him, and that was enough. All Akihito needed to do was look at him.

 

The blonde’s breathing was fast and shallow as he braced himself, Asami’s large hand gave the dirtied, weak one in his another squeeze, sticking their skin together with half dried blood as the doctor spoke.

“Ready, ya dumb brat?” the man asked, though he sounded concerned, causing Akihito to glare harder.

He gave a grunt around the leather strap and sucked in as much breath as he could in anticipation before it all happened at once.

 

The doctor gave Asami a nod that he was ready, so Asami pulled without mercy as the doctor manipulated flesh, guiding the joint back in slowly.

Akihito screamed around the leather in his mouth, panting through his nostrils as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, fighting back unconsciousness when the sick pop of the ball popping back into its socket told them all the joint had been placed.

 

Asami detached himself from the situation as Akihito momentarily blacked out and slumped against the table, if Akihito came to, to find himself in Asami’s arms instead of being supported by a casual hand on his back, it would only push him further away, and Asami meant it when he told Mikhail he didn’t want to fuck it up this time.

He would wait. Akihito wasn’t ready yet, but he would be there when he was.

 

So he kept Akihito from falling against the bed with a hand in between his shoulders as the doctor slapped him back into awareness. “Told you it was going to hurt, now sit down boy, those cuts on your arm need stitching too.” The old doctor began cutting the useless sleeve off Akihito’s torn shirt at the shoulder, revealing a whole new mass of cuts and already purpling bruises along his forearm, from landing directly on it on hard desert rocks.

The doc confirmed that if it weren’t for the shoulder giving out, Akihito would have more than one broken bone in his arm right now.

 

Asami would add a broken arm to the list anyway, because by the time he was done with the culprits, every bone they had would be broken multiple times over.

 

Akihito sat awkwardly on the bed staring at the back wall the rest of the time, the doctor was at his side now, his expert hands deftly working Akihito’s flesh to close some more wounds.

Asami did the only thing he could, he leant against the bed next to Akihito, on the side of his uninjured arm and stared at the back wall with him. The only sound heard at regular intervals with the doctors rhythmic stitching was Akihito hissing each time the needle pierced the skin.

 

It took another twenty minutes by the time the doctor was happy enough with Akihito’s condition to let him leave, he put Akihito’s bandaged arm in a sling, and sighed as he gave him the all clear, to which Akihito just mumbled a thank you and left the doctor and Asami in silence.

“How bad?” Asami asked the question that Akihito didn’t stick around for answers to.

The grey haired Russian took his glasses off, and handed Asami the medical chart, reporting while Asami looked over the pages.

 

“Firstly, his shoulder will need therapy if he wants it at full strength again. His entire left side is bruised down to the bone. Maybe rib fracture or two, which needs to be wrapped, and his hip looks to be in bad shape from the way he’s walking. I’m guessing most of the bruising will be there, I can’t know more unless he lets me examine him properly. But I can say, he’s only walking on will power alone right now. He needs bed rest, 6 weeks at least. Stubborn brat.” The doctor scrawled more notes in a new file, before holding his hand out for Asami to give him the paperwork back.

The Japanese crime lord let out a pensive breath as he memorized the list of injuries on the chart, he would have to watch Akihito extra carefully now, lest he work himself into the ground before his mind decided that he should rest.

The body could only run so long on the fuel of vengeance and gunpowder.

Asami left the doctor, his long strides catching up to Akihito’s short ones by the end of the hallway, joining up with Suoh and Kirishima, who were standing wait with Axel, who was waiting for Akihito, his boss.

 

Suoh reported to Asami on Axel’s injuries, which were just as extensive as Akihito’s.

The burley Russian also had his left arm in a sling, he’d taken the same impact inside the vehicle, and in turn had received similar injuries, the only difference was instead of Axel’s shoulder dislocating, it was his collarbone that gave out and broke. Another young one running on a half empty tank.

Asami told Kirishima to find Mikhail and give him the run down on the pair’s condition, if they found a name faster on their end, it would mean less time for Axel and Akihito to question the people they brought back, less time for them to hurt themselves more.

 

The young pair fell into stride together on their way to where the two mercenaries were being held in rooms next to each other.

They spoke in hushed tones, to low for Asami and his subordinates to hear, completely ignoring the Japanese men trailing them as they entered a new building and found themselves in front of a pair of door ways, each leading to a room with a captive in it.

The man that was from Akihito’s squad would get dealt with back in Moscow, Mikhail explained that traitors got a special set of questions, so all the information they’d get would be from the two men Akihito brought back from Syria.

 

The Japanese crime boss observed as Akihito and Axel looked at each other with grim features, before each stepping into a separate room.

 

Suoh went with Axel, and Asami followed Akihito, he found himself in a small square room, brightly lit with a pair of chairs in the middle, in one sat the person Akihito would be questioning, his ankles tied to the chair legs, with his wrists behind his back.

He looked at the pair coming in, laughing at Akihito’s sling, before he noticed who the man behind Akihito Arbatov was, his laughter faded instantly, and color escaped his face as sweat made an appearance on his worried brow.

“It’s not me you should be worried about.” Asami addressed the man as Akihito took out the switchblade he always carried, snapping it open with a violent snap of his good wrist, bringing the man’s attention back to Akihito, who didn’t look injured at all anymore.

 

Suddenly the sling and blood didn’t matter, the way he stepped awkwardly on his sore hip seemed insignificant, his huffed breathing may have well been silence.

Akihito stood before the man in the chair as Asami leant against the sidewall to watch, the blonde held himself with strength Asami knew he didn’t have right now, but he still painted the picture of Arbatov pride as he leant down and held the flat of the small blade under the man’s chin.

“Who do you work for?”

 

*****

 

“Who do you work for?” the words came out slow, each syllable spoken clearly with dark promise laced in every letter.

Suoh watched as the big man Axel loomed over the prisoner in front of him, he’d seemed sure of himself when they first walked in, but as Axel awkwardly slipped on a knuckle duster over his good fist, the prisoner lost a little of his confidence, and so he should.

 

Axel wasn’t in any condition to question anyone, Suoh knew that much from sitting through the big Russian’s medical exam, but from the way he held himself in the questioning room, you would never be able to tell, despite the blood staining most of his skin and one arm in a sling.

These Russians were fucking tough nuts. Suoh knew it was only a matter of time though, until Akihito Arbatov, and Axel Brankov, as he’d found out in the exam room, would need the bed rest the doctors prescribed to them, Russian stubbornness could only last so long.

 

It would be a lie though, to say Suoh didn’t feel for Akihito and his man Axel, they didn’t exactly paint the picture of victory as they stepped off the chopper together, because even though they’d come out with over half their men alive in a situation where they should all be dead, they’d still lost two top men.

The thought of himself and Kirishima dying, leaving Asami to run things without them, it gave him a little of the feeling that Axel would have right now.

It was writ on his face the night at Sakazaki’s that Axel lived for Akihito, as Suoh did for Asami, and had his boss been done such a wrong as what happened to Akihito, the only rest Suoh would get was when everyone responsible was dead.

Yup, he felt for Axel alright, Suoh would have taken it upon himself to watch him even if Asami hadn’t told him too, he’d make sure the young man came out of this as sure as he knew his boss would look after Akihito. It was a fucked up situation, to be this close with the Russians, where were the craziest lot of them all, but Suoh knew there was no going back after this, and he didn’t mind it one bit.

 

The blonde bodyguard watched the black haired bodyguard as he landed the first blow with the hard steel of his knuckle dusters, even though he couldn’t put all his body weight into it due to his collarbone, it was still hard enough that Suoh heard the cheekbone crack.

The man gave nothing away but a hoarse shout, his cheek swelling instantly as he clenched his teeth and fixed Axel with a defiant glare.

Mercenaries were pieces of shit that was for sure, but they were also a tough breed, you had to be for some of the jobs they took.

 

Axel landed blow after blow, leaving the man’s jaw intact so he could speak, though he hadn’t yet.

The upper half of his face was a pulpy mess of blood and flesh, his eyes were swollen shut, the Russian was doing a good job, but Suoh could see he was running out of steam.

 

Suoh didn’t want the mercenary bastard to have the satisfaction of seeing Axel lose momentum, he himself didn’t want to see the Russian fail, but with his injuries, it was dangerous for him to keep doing, and Suoh _knew_ he would keep going until he couldn’t any longer.

“Oi, Axel. Let me have a turn at him.” Suoh stepped forward and gave the prisoner a smirk, not that the man could see, but his tone said enough.

He wanted to have some fun with this one, what should have been a short trip to Russia had turned into a code red situation, he was going to make the fucker sorry for it.

“I can do it.” Axel shot back, he was a proud man, Suoh knew he wouldn’t back down without a valid reason.

 

“I know you can, but we have a time frame to stick to since we are heading back to Moscow at 0600. You want some sleep before then?”

 

“I’ll sleep when the bossman sleeps.” Axel grunted, but he stepped back nonetheless, a silent agreement between the two that Axel knew he was in no shape to keep going, and was letting Suoh take over to get the job done.

 

“Let me show you how the Japanese get answers.” Suoh said to his new friend, who slipped his knuckle-duster into his pocket and leant against the spot on the wall that Suoh had previously taken. If he sat in the spare chair, he wouldn’t have been able to get up.

 

 

Suoh lurked behind the man, and asked the same questions Axel did. “Who hired you?”

He got no answer, so the blonde behemoth cut right to the chase, he bent the hand back on itself in one violent movement, the crack of bone drowned out by the man’s screams as his wrist were bent all the way back, his fingernails touching his forearm in the inhuman angle of the break.

Suoh sneered, “Did that tickle? You have another wrist, and after that, 10 fingers and 10 toes. Kneecaps are fun too. So unless you don’t want to get to that point, you better start talking.”

 

After the next wrist, and a thumb, he started talking. The fingers and toes followed anyway, just because Suoh felt like it, he wasn’t above a kneecap as they walked out as well, guy was going to die anyway.

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

Suoh stepped out behind Axel, finding his boss and the younger Arbatov in the hallway already, he had fresh blood on his hands, not his, Suoh guessed.

 

Axel and Akihito conversed in the hall way for a time, making sure the stories they both got matched up before confirming anything, while they were talking, Suoh took the chance to look into the room his boss and Akihito were in, and regretted it instantly.

 

The damage he and Axel had done to their guy, was nothing compared to the lump of human left in the room he was looking into.

 

There was a pile of fingers on the floor in front of the dead man’s feet, along with his ears and a hairy scalp. The switchblade used to deal all the damage, was buried to the hilt in the man’s eye socket.

 

This was something his boss was capable of, but there was no blood on Asami’s hands.

“Not you?” he queried anyway, not believing the laughing young blonde was capable of such brutality in his current state.

“Not me.” Was all his boss said, staring at the blonde as he flicked his lighter to take a drag on the fresh Dunhill in his mouth.

 

His boss always did crave a nicotine hit after a long torture session, and this one had taken much longer than planned, it was already past midnight.

The small flame of the lighter danced in his boss’s eyes, and he could see the obsession his boss had for the young Russian as he watched him talk with Axel, because the flames in his boss’s eyes outshone the flame of the cigarette lighter.

No, there was definitely no going back from this.

 

Once again, they shadowed them to the room Mikhail and Yuri were using to make calls, Kirishima was still there, hacking into bank accounts and computer systems trying to figure out digital trail the money had taken to get to mercenary accounts.

They had a few leads, but nothing concrete as of yet, until Akihito brought them the information that would piece it all together.

 

Rather than stay after the fact though, Akihito and Axel began to walk the halls once more, Asami thought perhaps the men might be turning in for a few hours of much needed rest, but it wasn’t to be, in fact, it was the complete opposite.

 

The small hill for Akihito to get over, just became a self inflicted Mt Everest, and Asami found his patience to wait for Akihito waiver.

 

The blonde sat himself down at a huge table in the expansive map room in the center of the compound.

It was bitter sweet, sweet because Akihito was finally sitting down properly, the only form of rest he’d had in over a day.

Bitter because in front of Akihito on the table, was a detailed map of the ambush area.

The mountain got higher and higher as Asami watched Akihito plot out coordinates, the ones their men had been, and pins for the location of his attackers, blocking all their escape routes.

 

He watched as Akihito played out multiple scenarios for escape.

The only one that didn’t lead to sure death was the route Akihito had taken them all out.

The mourning sound of rustling paper and turning pages was the only noise heard as Akihito plotted scenarios out over and over, obsessing over the pins on the map like chess pieces on a board.

The most valuable piece in the middle got killed time and time again, matter how the game played out.

 

It was clear to Asami and Suoh watching, that Akihito took the best way out, the _only_ way out, but still Axel and Akihito went over the map, playing the chess game of self blame, a game that was impossible to win.

 

They went over the map all night, until it was time for them to go back to Moscow, the noise of the chinook’s engine firing up and the rotor blades turning, the alarm clock that timed them out on their useless game.

Asami decided to say something now, he touched Akihito on the shoulder on their way out the door, the blonde stopped and looked at him, for only the third time since he’d come off the black hawk from Syria.

“What is it?”

“Rest, Akihito.” He made it a suggestion, running a tender hand down Akihito’s good arm, stopping at the elbow to pull him close.

He didn’t smell of mint and spice any longer, he smelt of old blood and dirt, of anger and resentment.

There was a flash of something as they gazed into each other though, Asami got a glimpse inside, and he saw the pain that was buried deep, he pulled Akihito closer, the blonde didn’t pull away for as long as the silence lasted, resting his head against Asami’s chest for a moment that Asami wanted to last much longer.

 

It wasn’t to be though, the temporary solace between them was torn down with Akihito’s next words, he stepped away from the warmth of Asami’s chest, showing him his lonely back once more as his words echoed down the hall.

“I’ll rest when I’m dead.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: wow, just…. wow. I posted this last night, to wake up to over 600 kudos this morning. Holy shit balls. That is unreal, you are all unreal. 
> 
> I can't thank my readers and all of those of you who follow and comment, enough. What a mile stone for my story that I first posted on a whim. I never in a million years would have thought that that a) people would actually read it, and b) people would actually like it! 
> 
> Kudos to all of you, thank you so much.


	16. Chapter 16

 

The men from the failed weapons transport were split between the two black hawks, Akihito went in one, Axel in another, to be with their men on the solemn flight home.

 

Asami was about to hop in the Black Hawk after the battered form of Akihito, but he thought better of it, while Akihito may have tolerated the constant shadow that was Asami, the rest of the men mightn’t have appreciated an outsider amongst them, some of them were grieving as much and more, as Akihito.

 

His men needed time with their boss, and as much as Asami felt the instinctive _need_ to step up onto the chopper platform after the battle ravaged young man, to sit with him amongst the stretchers of men that couldn’t sit upright, to just _sit_ and be there with him for the entire flight back, he couldn’t.

He was a man who could enter any building he wanted, go anywhere, do anything, and he would never think twice, but as he was about to step on, that’s what he did.

He didn’t belong on that flight.

 

So instead, he slid the chopper door closed, looking at the occupants of the aircraft, each man sitting alone in his thoughts, but yet not, with a comrade at his side.

The company of each other’s silence was enough, and it wasn’t something he could share in.

 

The last thing he saw as the door slid shut, the last thing he looked at, was Akihito, and again he felt that overwhelming urge to be next to him.

Gold irises met hazel in the split second before the door cut off the wordless exchange, and he knew then that shouldn’t have second-guessed himself.

Asami’s first instinct was always the right one.

 

The men might have Akihito there with him, but right now, Akihito only had that thing inside his head that was telling him it was his fault. For Akihito, it would be a long flight back, longer for him than anyone else.

 

But it was too late, the safety lock kept him from opening the door as the rotors turned faster and the 22,000lb helicopter defied gravity and began to lift off.

 

He moved back out of the percussive down draft, and then Akihito was gone.

 

A dangerous looking Mikhail stepped up beside Asami as the twin blades of the Chinook behind them started to turn, and both men observed the black hawk disappear from sight as their own air craft readied to leave. Since when was he this comfortable standing in silence with Mikhail Arbatov?

He didn’t know, perhaps it was because they were both thinking about the same thing.

“He went to the map room, didn’t he?”

“All night.” Asami confirmed.

He heard a growl at his side, and turned to see Mikhail Arbatov, who’d also been up all day and night, not that you’d ever know.

 

A storm was manifesting in his grey eyes, the likes of which Asami had never seen from the Russian before. A storm that only happened when a rival crossed the line that should never be crossed.

Mikhail was using his brother’s suffering as power, a catalyst to ignite his fire full force.

That was the difference between them both; Mikhail _was_ fire, volatile, and unpredictable, something that destroyed everything in his path.

 

Asami was the unemotional steel of a blade, cold, precise, sharp, and just as devastating when pointed in the direction he chose.

It never occurred to Asami before, but fire and steel were a sickeningly good combination. A very good combination, because Akihito was fire too.

 

“The name that Akihito got from the two men, he’s been detained and should be at the estate by tonight….” The Russian trailed off, which was uncharacteristic for him, if there was anyone ever sure in his words, it was Mikhail. There had to be something more.

“What is it, Mikhail?” Asami looked back in the direction where Akihito’s chopper last disappeared over the horizon, and waited.

Mikhail was also one of the few people he couldn’t push.

Finally though, before the thwop of the chopper blades behind them got too loud, Mikhail answered, “I have a bad feeling.”

Instinct took over once again, Asami’s muscles tightened, and his fingers itched to feel the cold steel of a triggers caress.

For Mikhail to say that out loud, for the head of the Russian Mafia to admit he had a bad feeling. It only meant one thing.

 

The storm in his eyes, it was coming in real life.

 

 

 

 

*****

 

 

It was just passed 8am when the Chinook touched down on the massive concrete helipad at the Arbatov estate, the two black hawks touched down only minutes before, and medical teams and personnel that were left at the estate were already out and waiting.

 

Men from the black hawks filed out slower than those in the Chinook, some with slings or crutches, some with stitches in various places, the aches and pains of yesterday were beginning to catch up with them, evidence of the fact in the form of purple bruises that weren’t there yesterday.

Only those unable to walk were stretchered away to be seen too by the in house medical staff.

The rest just stood in the grass garden outside the back of the mansion and waited for their boss and Axel to arrive, the pair were busy seeing that every last man got off their respective chopper before they did, home at last.

Asami stood next to Mikhail by the door of Akihito’s chopper as he stepped off the platform, a little gingerly as his sore hip took the weight.

 

There were no words for his condition now, except that in the space of two hours, he’d aged. Forced to sit with his toxic thoughts and the visions of his injured subordinates at his side only added to his exhaustion, Asami knew he wouldn’t have dozed off on the flight though, his eyes were still wired, weary, but wired.

 

Axel made his way over after seeing to the men from his chopper, his condition was the same, the young Arbatov and his bodyguard still hadn’t cleaned themselves up, red blood turned black on their skin, strands of hair crisp with dried blood, torn clothes and dirt covered clothing underneath the Kevlar vests they still wore.

 

The only thing about them both that was clean, was their bandages, and both their left arms, cradled in the fabric of a pure white sling, which made how sullied they were truly stand out.

Out of everyone, these two needed rest the most, but they were also the last people that wanted it.

 

The noises of the choppers died down, quiet enough for Mikhail to speak, and begin issuing orders, his tone gave no room for question or error, his visage firm in the face of his little brother, who was waiting.

 

Asami resisted the urge, the feeling that wanted to make his feet move just to be closer to Akihito. Never before had he struggled with his legendary self-control, yet he’d only known Akihito a little over a month, and in that month, he’d lost control more times than he had ever during the entire rest of his life.

If it weren’t for the situation, he would have found it amusing.

Him, irrational, impatient, rash? Those words didn’t belong in the same realm as him, put Akihito in that realm though, and that rule went out the window of his Tokyo penthouse and plummeted all the way to the concrete sidewalk.

He still wasn’t sure what it meant, this urge, but he quashed it nonetheless, and stayed his ground as the outsider, he still had to wait too.

 

“Akihito, see to your men, give them the time off that they need, then take the rest the doctor prescribed you. Yuri and I can manage.” Mikhail’s words shattered the oppressed silence, once again, his tone brooked no nonsense, this wasn’t an order that could be argued with.

Mikhail was forcing his brother into rest.

Hazel orbs lit up with indignation, stubborn with what he saw in his eyes, was his own failure, “I don’t want-”

 

Mikhail raised his hand to silence the blonde, firm, he said, “Rest, now. Tomorrow, you’ll deal with Johannes.”

 

Akihito snapped his mouth shut, it was clear Mikhail couldn’t be pushed right now either, he didn’t need the added stress of Akihito working himself to death after nearly losing him, not with that bad feeling nesting in the back of his head.

The younger Arbatov dipped his head in acceptance, sweeping a glance across the faces of the older men, Mikhail, Asami, Yuri, Kirishima, Suoh, as if to make sure none of them were feeling sorry for him.

These Arbatov’s had pride by the bucket load, Akihito wasn’t about to let anyone see him break down, that much was obvious, he had an image to maintain, so he followed the order without further question, because the last person he wanted to break down in front of was his brother.

 

Mikhail knew all this, and Asami saw some of the tension leave the Russian crime boss as Akihito walked away with Axel, Mikhail had played his little brother’s values against himself, it was harsh, the affection they had for one another was boundless, and it worked perfectly, even if it hurt the older Arbatov just as much.

 

“Fuck, I’d rather conquer Europe ten times over than have to do this.” Mikhail let out a breath, watching his little brother go, his eyes hardening further, until the storm inside went from grey to black.

 

“Yuri, place all our routes on lock down, I want nothing coming in or going out until this bullshit is sorted out. Akihito’s too.” Just like that, everything went into motion, like the play button had been pushed, Mikhail’s word was law and everyone followed accordingly, Yuri was already on his phone making calls, issuing orders of his own and hunting down more men to see to route protection. The Russian organization right now was essentially ceasing all of their illegal business.

 

All their legitimate holdings and stocks would be more than enough to keep everything running, and keep them in power, Mikhail’s influence was threaded throughout the entire country, from politics and the Russian space program, all the way down to street workers and salary men.

Even without firearms and drug trades, they were still one of the most rich and influential families on the continent.

 

Asami would have ordered the exact same thing, it was an extreme measure, but when people like him and Mikhail had that ominous feeling, they tended to listen to it, because a bad feeling for people of power, for the King of Asia and the Lord of Europe, came round only a handful of times in their entire life.

They never had to follow rules, because they were the ones that set them, what they did have to follow though, was instinct.

 

It was in the air, that bad feeling, heavy and thick to everyone, almost visible, for an organization of a lesser caliber it would have been debilitating, for Mikhail and his men, for the elite, it was fuel, motivation and reason to get things done even more efficiently, Asami vaguely registered as everything around him ticked like perfect clock work.

 

What he was really watching though, was Akihito on the other side of the glade, the choppers were quiet now, but he was still to far to hear Akihito talk.

He was talking though, and that was a good sign, even if Asami knew he wouldn’t rest as Mikhail told him.

 

“Asami.” Mikhail addressed the Japanese men when all his orders were set in motion. “If I let you stay passed this point, you know there is no going back, whether you end up with my brother or not. Decide now.”  Mikhail never worded it as a question.

 

Asami and his upper circle had been allowed to see Mikhail and his organization at their most vulnerable, and it was only going to get worse if Mikhail’s hunch was right, he’d seen the inner workings, something that no outsider apart from Feilong had ever seen before.

Anyone else would be dead right now, not allowed to walk away with inside information.

This went beyond their long standing alliance based on mutual respect, they were equals in everyway, there would be no winner if they came to a head with one another, no, this went into something more.

To go beyond this point was to form irreversible ties, it would become an alliance based on trust, and giving someone your trust in this world was an exceedingly rare thing.

 

With or without his relationship with Akihito as a factor, the choice was simple.

It was much more beneficial for Asami to have Mikhail and Akihito as permanent allies, eliminating the possibility of them ever becoming enemies.

The fact that Mikhail broached the subject first told Asami that the Russian had come to the same conclusion and had already made his choice, so Asami made his too.

“My resources are at your disposal, Mikhail.” They were both still looking across at Akihito as the conversation advanced.

From the corner of his eye, Asami saw Mikhail nod once in acknowledgment, that was all that was needed.

 

“I’ll need your men to guard that piece of shit traitor, too many of mine and Akihito’s would rather rip him limb from limb than wait for tomorrow.” He let out a sigh now, “and since you haven’t fucked it up yet, keep watching him. I’ll check in when I can.”

The subject of Mikhail’s last line was beginning to move off with his men in the direction of Akihito’s wing of the house, in the midst of them all, checking on each one, talking with them briefly, taking care of everyone but himself.

One thing he always appreciated about Mikhail, was that even though he was brash and talkative, they never actually needed much words to communicate, right now was one of those times.

Asami issued his own orders to Kirishima to have his men guard the man Johannes, and then without any further word to Mikhail, left to follow Akihito and Axel with Suoh in tow.

 

*****

 

Even in this state, Akihito was unpredictable, he recognized the hallways they were walking down, heading in the direction of Akihito’s quarters, instead of taking the door into his rooms though, they kept walking, and entered the joint rooms a few doors down.

 

Rooms so close to Akihito’s only left one explanation, this was Vlad and Kristof’s quarters, they shared a living area and had separate bedrooms and offices coming off the joint space.

 

Confirmation of Asami’s guess was given in the form of photographs, much like the ones in Akihito’s room, adorning the walls, an expansive landscape piece with the entire residents of the mansion took center stage on the biggest wall, and around it were smaller photos.

They were all of the four of them, Vlad, Kristof, Axel and Akihito. Some were taken on tropical islands, some were taken on mountain peaks, and the time span must have been years, because they were no more than boys in some.

In each photo, they were all smiling, or laughing, nothing forced, always easy and always happy, despite the world they lived in, the contrast between the photos and now was literally the difference between life and death.

 

Asami knew what they were here for now, the photos on the walls said it, Akihito and Axel wanted to pay their respects in private, because the time they had with their closest friends back in Vladikavkaz hadn’t been enough.

He watched as Akihito sat down at a dining table, set out from the open lounge area, wincing as his leg bent at the hip before he straightened it out in front of him awkwardly, Asami knew it must be hurting, things always hurt more the day after, and the day after that was even worse.

Akihito wasn’t even in the worst of it yet, he wouldn’t be able to do things unassisted tomorrow, once the numbness wore off, he wouldn’t be able to do anything for a while without help. He’d have Kirishima put off all his meetings in Japan for a while.

 

Axel went to a nearby liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Vodka, cheap stuff by the looks, for some odd reason, and came back to with six shot glasses cradled in his good arm. Six?

 

The only sound heard was the clink of glass as Axel sat down opposite Akihito and set them out, slow going with only one hand to use, when he was done, one glass was at each spot of the six seater table.

“If you’re going to baby sit us, sit.” Akihito said offhandedly as the clear liquid was poured.

It was the longest thing he’d said to Asami since getting back from Syria, and the Japanese man wasn’t about to halt the progress, so he gave Suoh a nod, and they both sat down on the other end of the table, leaving an empty seat between them.

He knew what the number six was for now, one glass for each of them, and one each for Vlad and Kristof, whose seats sat empty, marked by a shot glass on the table.

 

The reality of the invitation sunk in then, because for all the coldness the pair were showing everyone, shutting people out and carrying the loss on their own, they were letting Asami and Suoh in on something extremely cherished.

He sat on the other end of the table, but right now he couldn’t have been closer to Akihito if he tried.

Akihito was letting him in in his own way.

 

The blood stained blonde barked a laugh, as empty as the seat next to him, and leant forward to take his glass from the wooden surface, looking at the clear liquor before he slouched back in his chair, and shot back the vodka in one quick motion, hissing as it burnt its way down. “I can’t believe they drank this shit.”

The bottom of the glass clacked on the table as Akihito slammed it down and left it there.

Axel’s followed suit, a sneer on his lip at the bitter taste, Asami’s lip curled in agreement as he set his own glass down, it tasted horrible.

“They drank it though.” Axel said absentmindedly, leaning back in his seat to rest the arm in its sling on his stomach. Across from him, Akihito did the same and tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling, “They did.”

 

The room lulled into silence, they all only had one drink, and for the rest of the time, Vlad and Kristof’s glasses sat full while their seats sat empty.

The silent lament lasted near an hour, it wasn’t rest like Mikhail ordered, but it was necessary.

He knew this was only temporary respite however, because he could feel the pressure building as time passed, the affect the vacant seats had on the ones who made it home alive became more visible.

 

Asami’s eyes registered on Akihito’s clenched fist in his lap, knuckles whitening under the dirt before releasing for a moment, to repeat all over again.

His jaw was locked and his hazel eyes were hollow as he continued to glare at the ceiling now, torn between staying and finding something else to vent his anger on.

 

Rest was the last thing on his mind with the monster of denial and self blame rearing its ugly head, his loyalty to his dead friends had kept him here this long, but before the hour was up, he rose from his seat, took one last look at the shot glasses that were still full on the table, and left.

 

*****

 

They met Mikhail in the hall, and he walked with them as the sound of their muffled foot steps on the carpet brought them down a new set of halls, the young pair went through another door as Mikhail bid Asami and Suoh to stay back.

“Give them until tonight.” He said, looking at the door as it shut them all out.

“What’s in there?” Asami questioned.

“Their joint office.” Mikhail sat down on a couch along the hallway wall, “Go and sort yourselves out, I’ll stay here for a bit.”

If it were anyone else that said that, Asami would have stayed, in fact he would have gone into the office, but it was Mikhail, the person who cared about Akihito more than anyone else.

He belonged there more than what Asami and Suoh did, he couldn’t begrudge the Russian that.

Plus, he had some thinking of his own to do.

 

 

The two Japanese men went back to their rooms to clean up and shower, and get something to eat, something Akihito still hadn’t done Asami noted as hot food arrived at his door, delivered by some of the house butlers, who were careful to keep out of the way right now.

 

Once Asami fed and dressed himself, happy to be rid of the pressure of the tight bullet proof vest on his large frame in place of his normal dress shirt, rolled up to his forearms and not bothered to put on a tie, he sat back on his four poster bed in the middle of the traditional style room with a much needed Dunhill in his mouth.

 

This entire situation begged the question, how far was he actually willing to go for Akihito?

No one had occupied his thoughts this much before, resisted him, Asami Ryuichi, and given him such a challenge. Akihito was a giant thrill rolled into a bundle of soft skin, amusingly foul language, deadly weapon skills and a sadistic streak a mile long.

 

An equal, even if he had some growing to do.

 

He was falling hard, another unexpected observation he made during his not even two days in Russia. Was he worried about it? No, as long as he remained in control (well as much as he could, considering it was Akihito Arbatov) then he had nothing to worry about, on his end anyway.

 

Mikhail’s bad feeling was a whole new matter regarding control, it was also the answer to his original question.

He’d offered Mikhail everything he had to assist the situation, tied with the ‘crazy Russians’ as he often referred to them as, in order to get to the bottom of the threat that didn’t effect his own business whatsoever, but it effected Akihito, it nearly killed him. Akihito was part of his life, and no one but him controlled each element in it, much less remove one of those elements.

 

He’d offered Mikhail everything for Akihito. That was how far he was willing to go.

 

 

*****

 

It was late afternoon by the time he made it back to the office Akihito was undoubtedly still in, Suoh came back with him too, intent on seeing his task through of watching Axel until the end.

 

The thick muscled form of Mikhail was still sitting on the couch outside the hall, his elbows resting on his wide spread knees, with his hands clasped in between them.

 

He looked lost in thought as he set his gaze at the floor, but Asami knew he was anything but.

“Any developments?” his nonchalant voice drawled the question as they stopped outside the door, next to Mikhail who didn’t move as he answered.

“Everything has been stopped without problem, my informants don’t have anything for me though, so we will just have to wait until we have Amir from Riyadh in our clutches for answers.”

As expected from Mikhail, everything was running smoothly. Despite how tired he must be himself, he was unruffled.

Asami had also taken time to evaluate the validity of Mikhail’s bad feeling, and the conclusions he came to left him with a shadow forming in the back of his own mind.

Saudi’s weren’t terribly ambitious when it came to territory, all they cared about was money, it just didn’t fit for the Saudi’s to offer mercenaries so much money for something they knew would cost them everything in the long run.

They would grudgingly pick being conquered any day, than lose any money.

It didn’t make sense.

 

They all sat and thought the same thing, each man wracking their brains for a logical explanation, and coming up with nothing. It added to that oppressing feeling that was tainting the Arbatov estate.

 

It was dawning on evening, the ill-omened red sky signaling the setting sun as it casted its last night into the windows before house workers came to shut the plush curtains.

 

Axel came out by the time the sun had called it in for the day, he looked tired now, and much older than 24 years old.

“He has the nerve to tell me to get some rest when he won’t get any himself.” the juggernaut said to himself more than anyone else, three pairs of eyes were on him as he leant on the wall outside the door, his exhaustion setting in at last.

He let out a breath, and with his exhale, some of the shadows from his demeanor whisked away.

“There’s nothing we could have done.” He said at last, his eyes shut in acceptance. “I tried telling him…”

“He doesn’t want to hear it.” Mikhail finished for him, that darkness was oozing from him now.

“Not one bit. One of you… just make him see, please. Or he wont stop.”

The time for waiting was gone, now it was time for intervention, lest Akihito finish the failed attempt on his life.

Mikhail stood “Get some rest, Axel.”

“I’m staying until he-”

“Go, now.”

Suoh used the momentum of Mikhail’s blunt command to get up and tug Axel by his good arm back down the hall, “Come on, stop being a stubborn ass and clean yourself up. Can’t let your men see you like this.”

That shut Axel right up, not many people knew it, but Suoh was deviously smart, and wasn’t above using the factor of the Russian’s men against him for leverage in this situation.

Asami needed to give him a raise for that stroke of brilliance, one stubborn Russian down, one to go.

 

Akihito and Axel needed to be in their chambers and sleeping when the man from Saudi Arabia was brought in, they couldn’t have their lust for vengeance getting in the way of questioning.

 

Suoh and a nearly hobbling Axel rounded the corner, leaving Mikhail and Asami staring at the door to the office, who knew what waited for them on the other side, if Axel’s words were anything to go off of, it wasn’t good.

Mikhail rightfully reached for the door first, his hand pulling the lever down the moment the shrill noise of his cellphone echoed down the hall.

The Russian grunted in annoyance, his brows bunching in a frown as he took the offending device from his pocket, his mouth formed an ‘O’ as he read who the caller was.

He answered immediately, taking his hand from the door handle and stepping back as he spoke in his guttural native language.

 

There was one word Asami recognized in his greeting, Putin. Mikhail was talking to the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and by the tone he was using, it sounded more casual than formal, but still serious.

 

The Russian took the phone away from his ear, covered the mouthpiece, and looked forlornly at the door before turning to Asami.

“He’s going to aid in the protection of my routes, this call is going to take a while….” He trailed off, and looked at the door again.

“I’ll take care of it, Mikhail.”

Grey eyes shut momentarily as a powerful set of lungs let out a resigned breath, “I don’t care what you do, Asami. Just make him eat and sleep.”

“He’s in the best possible hands.” Asami smirked now, making a dig at the Russian’s acceptance of his feelings towards his younger brother.

He was rewarded with a sarcastic snort, “Ha, just watch where you put your fucking hands or I’ll cut them off.”

“Oho, you said you didn’t care what I did.” Asami could see himself having a lot of fun with this once the storm had blown over. He didn’t often have anything to tease Mikhail about, because there wasn’t much the Russian cared about, his little brother would make the ultimate mockery weapon.

The stubborn Arbatov pout made an appearance, “Tsk. Fuck up. All I care about is the stubborn little shit in there getting the rest he needs. I’ll come get you once the Saudi gets here. Be ready.”

“Oh, I will be.” Asami was already reaching for the door as Mikhail gave him a nod and left with the phone at his ear, speaking in Russian once more as he began conferring with the country’s president.

 

*****

 

This was much more than a simple office, Asami pinned it as the headquarters for Akihito’s organization, in each corner of the room sat a large mahogany desk with a filing cabinet system next to it, and a lap top waiting for use on the surface of the wooden work space.

On the walls were route plans on a global chart, along with pins set in cities where he owned buildings, clubs or warehouses. All perfectly organized and color coordinated.

 

In the middle of the room was a meeting table, also varnished wood, the dark grain going lengthwise with the rectangular shaped room.

 

Akihito sat right in the middle on one side of that table, the elbow of his uninjured arm resting on the surface for his hand to support his head, which was hanging low.

The table was covered end to end in paperwork, documents, maps and inventory and more maps.

He didn’t even look to see who’d came in when the door clicked shut behind Asami, he chose to keep his head downcast, staring at the map on the desk that was ensnaring him.

Casually, he leant against the table right beside Akihito, placing a splayed hand on top of the map Akihito was fighting with.

“What to you want, Asami?” if Akihito’s eyes could cut, his hand would be rid of its fingers.

“I want you…” Akihito stiffened at his intentional pause, opening his mouth with a snarl on his lips before the Japanese man continued, his tone soft, but not empathetic, “ to rest, Akihito.”

“I don’t need it.”

It was then that Asami understood the difficulty Mikhail had with being stern with Akihito, manipulating his ideals to get him to do what was needed.

Asami enjoyed monopolizing people, Mikhail did too, but it was entirely different in this situation.

It wasn’t for enjoyment, it was for necessity, and Asami would always do what was needed, no matter how much it hurt the blonde sitting before him.

“Akihito.” He began, not emotive at all, almost antagonizing, “You really think that they would be happy with what you’re doing right now?”

He got no answer, so Asami scrunched the paper under his hand into his fist, crumpling the paper in a spike of frustration.

“Is this how you repay them, Akihito? They would turn in their graves to see you like this.” He said, harsh to get the message across.

“They can’t see anything anymore because of me!” the blonde hissed, and at last he looked up at Asami, his eyes finally reaching breaking point at the inevitable confrontation.

It was those eyes again, how could they be so full, yet so empty at the same time, pushing him away, but at the same time, drawing him in.

 

Full with indignation, defensive and accusing, however they lacked that sheen he remembered, and for that they were vacant.

 

He wanted to full them up again, so those hazel irises could drive him crazy and make him lose it, challenge him in a different way to what they were now.

Those eyes were all he needed to keep going, “It was their job to die for you.” He drawled, looking Akihito straight in the eye as he said it.

That did it.

A single clenched fist slammed down on the table, thunderous in the otherwise stagnant room, “You don’t know shit!” he roared, pushing himself up abruptly with his only useable arm, the other still secure in its sling.

Asami was ready for it, he knew after so long sitting that Akihito’s hip would have ceased up, and the aches and pains would be setting in full force.

The blonde was barely up from his chair, attempting to storm off, only to stagger hopelessly before clutching his ribs under his sling, while travelling downwards towards the carpet all at the same time.

 

He landed in Asami’s arms instead, not an embrace, just simple support to keep him from sinking to his knees, and they stayed like that for a time, Akihito’s breathing ragged and hot as his face pressed against the larger man’s chest.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” Asami said, gently now, the time for harsh words was over.

“… Ok.”

 

*****

 

 


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bombs are dropped.

 

 

 

Asami helped Akihito back to his rooms, the going was slow but they made it eventually, a meal was ready and waiting, which he made Akihito eat every bite of along with water and painkillers.

 

After that, it was into Akihito’s master bathroom off his bedroom, reverting back to silence as they went.

The taller man didn’t note any of his surroundings this time, all his attention was on Akihito, who was in pain the more he moved, inside and out.

 

He took care in undressing the blonde, who stood for him without any complaint, his deft fingers made quick work of Akihito’s Kevlar vest straps, lifting it off his head and throwing it to the side without care.

 

He paid extra attention not to hurt him anymore, choosing to cut the shirt off rather than have Akihito lift his arms. He knelt and undid his shoes, shimmying them off, followed by his pants and finally his briefs.

He was finally out of the filthy clothing he’d been wearing for near on three days straight, baring everything for Asami to see, his bandages off an the arm free of its sling for the moment.

The Japanese man suppressed a snarl at the sight.

 

He was going to make that Saudi piece of shit hurt.

 

That feeling of blood lust, that want for vengeance was boiling again as the severity of Akihito’s condition sunk in, the doctor was spot on in his prognosis.

 

The entire left side of Akihito’s body was covered in mottled bruises, black and blue, all concentrated around his hip, shoulder and ribs.

He painted a pitiful picture of cuts, scrapes, stiches and discolorations as he stood there, too exhausted to move or speak, he let Asami have complete control, and that in itself was evidence of his bone deep fatigue.

 

How he kept going was truly a testament to his abilities and his will, and even now as he endured the torture of remaining standing, he still held his chin high and his back straight.

Pride, one thing you could never take away from an Arbatov.

 

Asami undressed himself in a quick manner, and took Akihito to the shower, where he sat him down on the tiled bench and slowly began sluicing away all the blood and dirt with a cloth, careful to avoid the wounds on his body.

 

The water stayed hot, as it would in a luxury mansion, for however long they were in there, he washed his hair, massaging his scalp to loosen the blood and dirt before shielding his eyes from the water and rinsing the bubbles away, and infusing Akihito with the smell of mint and spice once more, it was invigorating for them both, and intoxicating for the older man, who reveled in that smell.

 

The water ran red and brown for a long time as Asami went over him, cleaning in between each finger and toe, behind his ears and along all the planes of his skin, ghosting over the tender bruises with the softest touch.

At last he got to his face, which was still smudged in grime and sweat, eyes closed as a caressing thumb brushed the skin of Akihito’s cheek.

He took extra time on his face, running fingers under his chin, tracing the line of his jaw, cleaning the grit out from the shells of his ears.

He couldn’t stop himself from carding a hand through his wet hair, forcing Akihito to look at him.

Blonde eyelashes lifted to reveal a pair of weary eyes, “Why are you doing this?”

“Because you can’t do it yourself.”

“Answer my question.” He said as Asami pulled him up to wash his back.

The larger man circled around the blonde, looming as he pressed the muscles of his chest against the moist back in front of him, he craned his neck down to answer in Akihito’s ear. “I’m sure you know the answer, Akihito.”

The Russian gave a grunt, “Ugh, I can’t be bothered with this shit now.”

“We’ll talk about it later.” Asami turned the shower off, leading the blonde out from the wet area onto a bath mat, where he toweled him down, redressed wounds that needed it, checked all his stitches and put his arm back in the sling.

The Japanese boss pulled on his black briefs once he was dry himself, and supported Akihito out to the bedroom, helping him sit before lifting his legs up onto the mattress so he could lay flat on the bed with his head on the pillows, naked still, not that it mattered.

“Sleep.” Asami urged, standing at the side of the bed.

“Ha, fat chance when all I can think about is…” his head turned to the side, not willing to finish the sentence, or look at Asami as his thoughts betrayed him.

Asami was on him then, crawling over top and caging him between his arms, golden eyes looking down at their source of heat. “Then I’ll make it so you can’t think about anything.”

“Wh- oh. Ooh.” The question was answered as Asami began touching him and kissing him everywhere but his mouth.

Everything was feather light, he would leave no marks, there were enough on him already.

Drawing goose bumps from the skin, he ghosted everywhere and nowhere until Akihito’s cheeks began to flush a delicious shade of pink, and his pupils blackened for an entirely different reason.

 

“Breathe, Akihito.” He whispered when Akihito’s chest started heaving, breath catching as the expansion of his lungs stretched his aching ribs too far.

 

Asami would take away all thought, he would flood Akihito’s system with his touches, erase the pain and replace it with pleasure so his mind could finally sink into rest.

This wasn’t about teasing, he was going to make him feel so good that he would forget, even if just for a while.

 

As he’d done with his hands in the shower, he did with his mouth, kissing each bruise, licking his way to the next and kissing again, all the way down to his trim waist, nibbling the indents of the V at his hips until Akihito tried lifting his pelvis for more.

 

Akihito’s hardening erection mirrored the desire pressing against the fabric of his briefs, but it was ignored, he focused on Akihito only.

 

In the young man’s state, this wouldn’t take long, which was advantageous, because Asami wasn’t sure how long he could control himself, the noises coming from Akihito’s mouth were spurring him on, the wet patch on his briefs getting bigger with each shudder and tremble that he drew out.

 

He took two fingers into his mouth, sucking until they were sufficiently wet, and massaged the soft passage of skin all the way down to the tight ring, swirling his fingers around and around the entrance, still wet from the shower.

“Let me in, Akihito.” He said, looking up the length of the smaller body into blown hazel eyes, oh how he wished it were his dick pressing in passed that ring of muscle right now.

 

He took Akihito all the way into his mouth, and the blonde relaxed with a sigh, his free hand tugging weakly on the back of Asami’s hair when he sunk his fingers all the way to the knuckle at the same time.

“Oh, Asami.” Came the breathless plea as he finally gave himself to the pleasure Asami was filling him with.

_Yes, think only about me, Akihito._ Asami thought as he began to flood Akihito’s system with sensation, he swirled his tongue around the length in his mouth, savoring the taste as he curved his fingers and rubbed against the spot inside, over and over again.

 

The grip on his hair began to tighten desperately, groaning around the dick in his mouth when Akihito started begging his name, clenching on his fingers in anticipation.

He was high on the fact that Akihito needed _him,_ and was unconsciously moving his own hips in the same rhythm as his fingers, which Akihito seemed to notice in his haze.

“Fuck, Asami. I want you.” The hand in his hair tugged him up viscously all the way to his face, forcing Asami to stop what he was doing and move up directly atop the limber body beneath him.

 

He was careful not to lie on Akihito, planting his knees on the bed either side of the young man’s body, which only drove him more crazy as the heat of their groins met.

“Do you want this, Akihito?” He whispered, inches away from lips that he so badly wanted to claim again, they both knew what the question really meant. _Do you want us?_

There was a small pause, “…. Fuck, yes-”

 

That was all Akihito managed to get out, his words muffled as Asami’s hungry mouth finally got to taste Akihito once more, it was an urgent kiss, desperate, needy, full of feelings and unspoken apologies, it was so fucking good.

Coupled with Asami pushing his briefs down with a spare hand and fisting their cocks together, it was the best kiss of his life.

His choice to chase the Russian down this unknown rabbit hole was the right one, he didn’t care how deep it was, he’d chase him to the ends of the abyss if need be.

 

Hot and breathless now, he pressed their foreheads together, both panting as Asami continued to stroke them both, slicking them against each other as both heads started leaking with their impending release.

“When you’re better, I’m going to fuck you right back into bed rest.” He snarled as his hand pulled faster, wanting so badly to rut the young man into the mattress.

“..Haa, like to see you try, nngh, fucking old man.”

Yes, that was the Akihito he wanted to see, the cheeky remark brought him close as a familiar hazel sparkle shone through for a moment and trapped him there.

“Oh, I will, and I won’t stop trying, Akihito.” He increased his grip on them both, jerking slow deliberate strokes and flicking his wrist at the head, that undeniable heat building low in his groin with each pass.

“Yesss, now, Asami.” Came the moan of Akihito’s imminent release, his smaller hand resting on top of the larger one as he pumped them both over the edge.

 

Asami lowered himself to stifle his deep groan with a kiss, devouring Akihito’s mouth as they came all over themselves, he wrung out each wave of lighting hot pleasure wracking them, slowing right down and milking them both with drawn out strokes from base to tip until he stopped completely.

 

They caught their breath, gazing at each other the entire time, everything else forgotten as they shared soft kisses now, tongues touching in a display of gentleness from both of them, nothing between them before had been gentle.

 

Once they’d both come down from their high, Asami cleaned them both up and surely enough, Akihito’s eyelids started to droop.

 

The crime boss dressed, and tucked Akihito into bed, sure that he was asleep by now, but as he stepped away to find Mikhail, Akihito’s voice froze him in place, “Stay… Please.” Came the choked request.

 

It was happening, the loss was setting in, and he would stay. Mikhail would have to come find him.

He climbed onto the bed instead of walking out, laying down next to the prone body before pulling him gingerly on top of him and supporting his sore side with a protecting arm.

Cradling the young man’s body, his back to his chest, he kissed the temple by his mouth as Akihito buried his face in the crook of Asami’s neck and stayed there, trying to hide from everything.

“I thought you didn’t like cuddling.” Asami teased, trying to distract him.

He chuckled as the body on top of his stiffened in protest, only to wince from the movement seconds after, “Easy, Akihito.” He said, running a hand up and down Akihito’s side in soothing motions, the body softening into his once more.

 

Asami finally found the right words to say after a period of silence, he knew Akihito wasn’t asleep yet. He was ready now, to be comforted, he spoke to the room and let Akihito listen.

 

“Nothing will lessen the pain. But you will find a way to live with it, because everyday you wake up it will be the first thing you think about. Everyday, Akihito, it’ll be the first thing, until one day, it will be the second thing.”

The only answer he got was hot tears soaking the fabric of his shirt, Akihito stayed nestled into his neck, falling asleep at last as unbidden tears continued to flow.

 

 

*****

 

 

After the shattered blonde had been asleep for some time, he managed to move out from underneath him without jostling him too much. There was no way he would wake up, he was dead to the world now, and would be for a while, but any movement would still hurt him.

Now he could finally unleash the vengeful beast he’d kept at bay, his fingers just about crushing the Dunhill he was placing in his mouth as he sat down in a chair next to Akihito’s bed to watch him sleep.

 

His eyes longed to remove the bruises marring Akihito’s once perfect skin, he wanted to wipe away each cut as if it were simply drawn there, he wanted to maim, kill and destroy everyone responsible for what he was looking at.

 

He brewed in his bloodlust as his Dunhill shrank, he was near finished when the door opened quietly, Mikhail coming through the doorway in silent steps.

Mikhail noted the way Asami sat in his chair, elbows on his knees, guarding his brother with his presence as his eyes glowed with ferocity. Fuck it all, he could trust Asami with his brother, the truth was in those feline eyes.

He also noted the wet patch on Asami’s shirt. “He cried?” he asked, hopeful.

“He did.”

The Russian crime lord felt relief , “Ah, that’s good. So fucking good.” It really was, people like Mikhail and Akihito, they needed to let things out, or they would implode under the pressure of their own emotions, it was why they were so fiery and outspoken most of the time, they could shut it out when required, but they still needed an outlet once it was all said and done.

“Do I even want to know how you got him to sleep?” Mikhail queried, cautious, he knew he shouldn’t have asked the damn question, because Asami smirked around his cigarette and leant back in his chair, his eyes twinkling with amusement now, the bastard had leverage over him now, and Asami would always use his leverage.

“Fufu, I could tell you, but you wouldn’t like it.”

“Fuck, whatever, he’s asleep and that’s the main thing. Don’t gloat at me or I’ll put you on the next fucking plane out.” Mikhail sneered, and Asami kept chuckling.

Mikhail stood while the Japanese man finished his Dunhill, the mood changing as he stood up, the time for banter was over.

“I have him in a shed out the back of the estate.” Mikhail intoned as they both prowled out the door with one last look at the sleeping form in the bed.

“Good, I’m looking forward to this.”

“Oh, me too.”

Both men’s eyes were lit with feral intent as they stepped into the hallway, where Kirishima and Suoh were standing guard, and Yuri was waiting.

They all flinched away as the foreboding pair of crime lords darkened the hall with their presence.

“With your life, Kirishima, Suoh.” Was all Asami ordered, leaving his men standing outside the doors to Akihito’s room.

 

 

*****

 

 

Yuri drove them to the back end of the estate, a secluded space with old hangars not used anymore on the side of the drive. There was only one guard, the man that worked in tandem with Yuri, Siegfried. Mikhail didn’t want any other men within earshot of the questioning, he was playing it cautious indeed.

 

The pair left the guards at the door and entered, the entire building was empty save for the man tied in a chair in the middle of the concrete floor, coupled by a knife and blow torch on a table in front of him. The knife was what Asami asked for, the blow torch was Mikhail’s preferred tool. Fire and blade, Asami went back to his earlier thoughts, the items on that table couldn’t have been more symbolic if they tried.

 

Amir still had a rucksack over his head, and a gag in his mouth by the sounds of his muffled shouts under the fabric.

 

“Would you like the honor, Asami?” Mikhail said, taking the blowtorch off the table and sparking the weapon into life, the blue flame hissed menacingly as the Russian smiled a smile that didn’t reach anywhere near his eyes.

“Oho, my pleasure.” Asami purred, striding forward to rip the bag off the Saudi’s head.

The whites of the man’s eyes rolled in his head as he saw who was standing in front of him, not only Mikhail Arbatov, but Asami Ryuichi as well.

“I’ll make this hard, or I’ll make this harder, Amir.” Mikhail began, stepping up to the man alongside his Japanese counterpart, he loomed over him, bringing his face down as the brought the blue flame close to the man’s sweating expression.

“I told you, Amir, that you could stay in power if you only deferred to me and paid your dues, that’s how it works. I said I’d look after you if there was trouble, yet these mercenaries kept giving me your name. Why is that?” Mikhail was practically vibrating with brutality as he ripped the gag off, impatient to get an answer as his bad feeling boiled over.

“Answer me!” Mikhail boomed in his face, letting his rage take him.

The man gulped a few times, his dark skin paling in the face of two men much more powerful than he would ever be.

“M-my family, and business, what will happen to them?” the man stammered through his question, looking back and forth between the two men standing over him.

“Your family, your home, everything has been burnt to the ground like I said it would if you betrayed me. Your business, your money, it all belongs to me now.” Mikhail brought his phone out now in place of the blowtorch, and held the screen out for Amir to watch as a short video played of his estate going up in flames with his family and staff locked inside, each death scream over the audio causing the man to break down even further.

 

Asami sneered at the pathetic creature in front of him, he wasn’t even trying to control himself, the fact that this man could be responsible for the ambush drew him to pick up the knife from the table.

This man was too much of a coward to betray Mikhail. Asami wanted answers, and he wanted them yesterday.

“Tell me who coerced you, and I might find the grace to let you keep your tongue.” Asami drawled, as cold as the blade he was running along the man’s cheek, opening up the skin in the same place as Akihito’s stitches. The man started sobbing as blood ran down his cheek, facial wounds always bled profusely.

 

But Amir was already garbling an answer before Asami even finished the cut, he knew there was no hope, the only thing that would end it faster was to give them the answers they wanted.

“Th-they offered me money, and protection if- if… if I was the one to hire the mercenaries. F-for the ambush to kill your brother. Make it look like it was me.” He was tripping over his own tongue now, and the bad feeling felt by Mikhail seeped into the air as they both listened, infecting Asami as well. He didn’t like where this was going.

 

“When it failed. He said. He said the deal was off. Then I couldn’t contact him, and your men. They were already at my door.”

The small metal tank of the hand held blowtorch clanked to the floor and rolled with a metallic sound across the concrete when Mikhail dropped it, the Russian was trembling, the beast only seconds away from breaking out of it’s cage, Asami dropped his knife too, on edge as the Russian whispered his question.

“Who?”

“Am-american.” The man stuttered, he knew Mikhail wouldn’t like the answer, and Mikhail knew he knew.

“GIVE ME HIS NAME!” the Russian bear thundered, his eyes wide as every muscle in his body constricted, taken over by that black feeling.

 

Eyes clamped shut in terror, the man swallowed thickly, and said the word that sent everything into chaos.

“Cashmore.”

Before the last syllable even left his lips, the flat of Mikhail’s boot connected with the man’s face, snapping his head back into unconsciousness as he roared in fury.

Asami moved at the same time as it all unfolded, pinning Mikhail’s arms down as he grappled the Russian from behind and wrapped his arms around him as tight as he could.

 

The mindless crime lord continued to bellow, his eyes empty of all thought and his muscles straining under Asami’s tight hold as the bear fought to break free of its cage, to destroy everything.

Nearly two decades of hate and revenge boiled up from a place in Mikhail that had been locked away deep down inside, and he continued screaming, the pained noise tearing apart the silence of the old hangar as it grew louder.

“Yuri, YURI!” Asami barked as he struggled with the powerful body thrashing in his grip, his muscles were on fire, his arms burning as he fought to keep Mikhail from breaking free and going crazy.

 

Mikhail was much stronger than him in physical strength, and he wouldn’t be able to keep this up much longer.

 

Luckily Yuri came in instantly, he didn’t need an explanation, he helped Asami wrestle Mikhail to the ground, pinning him on his stomach and wrenching his arms in a lock behind his back.

 

The raven-haired Asami stood hunched over trying to catch his breath, his eyes never leaving Mikhail as the normality finally came into his eyes and intelligence returned, only just though.

“Fuck!” Mikhail cursed against the concrete.  “That fucking USAhole, I’ll kill him, I’ll fucking kill him this time. Kill him dead. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

 

“Mikhail.” Yuri intoned, not willing to unpin his nephew just yet.

 

“I will fucking kill him, uncle! I will wipe him off the face of this earth for what he did to my family. I will end him even if it fucking kills me.” Mikhail was still crazy, and his uncle was only slightly better, his years of experience the only thing that held the Russian veteran in check.

 

It was no secret that the person who pulled the trigger on Mikhail’s and Akihito’s parents was still alive and well. The person that killed Yuri’s brother, his comrades and numerous amounts of his friends at the time it happened, sending the Russian organization near breaking point nearly a decade ago.

Yes, James Cashmore was still very much alive and ruling America with an iron fist, and after 16 years, it seems he was setting out to finish what he started.

He wanted to kill every last remaining Arbatov that he failed to kill all those years ago, and he’d started with Akihito first.

 

And so Asami finally found where that rabbit hole he was chasing Akihito down lead.

War.

Underworld war.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything in this chapter is fiction, and is not to be confused with reality.

*****

 

 

 

 

Fact: The Russian Mafia was a family based crime syndicate. That statement was as true as blood was red, as sharp as the blade that cut, and as dangerous as the bullet that killed.

 

There was no bias in that statement, as indiscriminate as a gunshot, and as indifferent as a knife-edge.

 

The Arbatov’s were the parent household of their organization that branched out to include many more.

There was the Brankovs’, Axel’s family, who’d served the parent family for as long as they’d been in power, Siegfried’s family the Novikovs’, Vlad’s and Kristof’s families were in their also, and practically everyone else’s, generations upon generations of organized crime history, all within these families.

 

There were men that worked for the Arbatov’s currently, who’d lost friends, family and comrades to James Cashmore sixteen years ago.

 

This war not only encompassed Mikhail, Akihito and Yuri, and all their subordinate households, it encompassed nations and years of political conflict.

 

Because there was also one more little known fact: Vladimir Putin, though not the president back then however still a figure of diplomatic power, and Dmitri Arbatov, Mikhail’s father, were mutual acquaintances, friends even.

 

One ruled the underworld, while the other ruled the legitimate world of politicians and the government. Dmitri’s unresolved death was partly the cause for the current political cold shoulder the two nations bear each other now.

 

Putin was and is uncooperative with the Whitehouse, because the Americans refused to hand James Cashmore over for revenge that so many Europeans craved. Put Putin on the president’s seat, and it became worse. International stalemate.

The fearless Russian president wasn’t exactly known for his love of America or diplomacy, he antagonized the Whitehouse with fighter jet fly overs, space station surveillance and his blatant non attendance at G8 summits after terrorist incidents in the Ukraine.

 

That’s when Akihito sorted the Ukraine border rebels out, put the country under Russia’s control, and generated international outrage. That incident would have been the one that sparked the rumors of Akihito’s growing reputation, and in turn Mikhail’s indomitable power. That’s when James Cashmore would have decided to make the first move.

Then, there was the last vital fact: Cashmore was a tough son of a bitch. Unreachable. It wasn’t for lack of wanting the man dead that he was still alive, it was because he had power and influence in America as the Arbatov’s had in Russia.

 

So, as long as James Cashmore didn’t leave America, he was untouchable, as Asami was in Japan, as Fei Long was in China, and as Mikhail was in Moscow.

America’s trade market and exports alone were big enough that Cashmore never had to stir from his throne, add on its gang factions and corrupt government agencies, and it gave him enough allies and support without ever having to set foot outside his domain.

 

Put the pieces together, and it showed just how deep this fucked up rabbit warren went. Take one wrong turn, and you’d be lost somewhere in between oblivion and the abyss.

 

Sixteen years ago, Dmitri and Yelena Arbatov, along with many of their closest henchmen, some of which included Axel’s father, Vlad’s uncle and Kristof’s cousin, were all wiped out in one of the biggest deceptions in underworld history. Yuri, Mikhail, Siegfried and a handful that still worked for the Arbatov’s now, were the only ones who made it back to Russia alive.

 

It all started with a misunderstanding five years before that, one that Mikhail didn’t even fucking know the goddam details of anymore, it was so pitiful and insignificant, something about a shipment thought to be stolen, when really it was only misdirected and turned up months late.

 

It was between two power house groups that had extremely tentative dealings with each other in the first place, and it’d lit the fuse that lead to the bomb, a vendetta between the two nations that brewed until one day, his honorable old man called a meeting to try and put the issue to bed once and for all.

It was true too, Arbatov’s, once they gave their word, nothing short of moving mountains or re directing ocean currents could make them go back on it.

Mikhail could specifically remember his mom and dad talking about it one day, weeks before he was due to turn 20, saying the tension between the two syndicates needed to be resolved before something catastrophic happened.

So, they had the meeting called under a tense truce in a mutual country, well, it was mutual back then, Switzerland (now, it was firmly in Mikhail’s grasp), to sort out the mammoth misunderstanding.

 

It wasn’t to be though, Cashmore never wanted to sort it out, the slight festered over 5 years, and even though his old man never let his guard down, there was simply too much American firepower in the end, and in the height of his reign, 44 year old Dmitri Arbatov and his 39 year old wife Yelena could do nothing but watch and then die as fire rained down on them.

 

Cashmore was a snake, an insane snake, he went back on his guarantee of cooperation, accepting to meet only so he could kill them all, aside from the three that escaped, Mikhail still bore scars on his back from the narrow miss.

 

Now, he was trying to finish what he started before Mikhail and the Russians could. Mikhail knew that, he’d known throughout the years it would happen, they were always going to clash again, an inevitable destiny the entire family was involved in, he’d always thought that he would make the first move though, he wanted to wait until Akihito was ready.

 

But, word of his increasing power with Akihito at his side must have spurred the old fucker into action, he’d be 65 now, Mikhail had seen pictures, he hadn’t aged a day, still as cold and immortal looking as the day he pulled the trigger that killed Dmitri and Yelena.

 

His raucous old man would have been 60 this year, his mom, the definition of a deadly Mafioso’s wife, a wildly beautiful woman, from where both sons got their looks, would have been 55.

 

It made him nauseous, he lay on the concrete and felt sick. They could still be here, if Dmitri hadn’t given Yuri and Siegfried the order to get Mikhail out before anyone else, his wife stayed to defend her son’s escape with her husband and be with him ‘til death do they part.

Like every Arbatov that ever lived, his parents put other family members before themselves.

Blood above all. That’s really what it meant.

How long had Mikhail spent blaming himself? He couldn’t answer that yet, because he still did. He knew exactly how Akihito felt right now, down to the mournful stinging eyes, the regretful clenched fist and jaw, taut with restrained fury.

It was the reason _fuck all_ affected him, he might feel a spike of irritation with a lost shipment or a failed negotiation, he wasn’t scared of physical pain or the notion of being tortured, and in turn that made him ruthless, bordering on maniacal, one of the most feared men on the planet.

Losing his parents, potentially losing Akihito or Yuri, and blows to the family pride in the form of betrayal were the only things that flipped his switch, nothing else compared to those things.

 

Everything else wasn’t even a blip on the fucking radar of torment that he’d sailed through. Hearing that name had dragged him straight back into that shitty ass storm, the black clouds that he’d felt coming the moment the Saudi puzzle piece refused to fit.

 

“Breathe, boy, breathe.” His uncle almost cooed to him, it was fucking ridiculous, how odd this situation must look, how many times it’d occurred before, behind closed doors when Mikhail’s only insecurity clawed away at him, endeavored to eat him from the inside, consume him until there was nothing left but a creature that wanted to wreak havoc, his uncle was always there.

 

Well, they were always there for each other, because as huge as this monster was for Mikhail, it was even bigger for his uncle Yuri, who always had much better control than anyone else in the organization, even for all that he’d lost, which was more than most.

Yuri was a cornerstone. The real reason the Russian Mafia still existed. Like every other time, he was there, helping his nephew through the revolting panic.

 

Asami was here this time too, to see one of the biggest kingpins of the underworld break down into a vengeful mess.

 

“Breathe.” His uncle chanted again, and so he did, he forced himself to relax, laying his cheek, flushed with madness, against the cold concrete floor, he let the unkind temperature of the callous surface flood his veins.

He needed to cool the fuck down. It went back to that name again, it made him feel like the powerless young man he was when his parents were taken from him, when he was forced to flee rather than fight, even though he too, would have died if he stayed.

 

Akihito would have been alone then, the fact he’d survived to come home to his brother was the only silver lining in this 16 year fucking shit storm.

 

Nineteen, he was only nine-fucking-teen, when the fabric of everything he knew was torn apart. Akihito was seven, _seven_.

A nineteen-year-old youngster, and his seven-year-old brother were left with a then 40 year old Yuri, to try and rebuild the Russian organization that had been driven to its knees.

 

Back then, Mikhail wanted to go after James right away, he wanted blood, he wanted to wring every drop from James Cashmore’s dead corpse until there was nothing left but dust. He would have gone after him too, if not for Yuri, Siegfried and other veterans left in the organization.

The simple fact then was that they weren’t strong enough. They had to bide their time, build themselves up and wait.

 

Mikhail thrived in that period, conquering nation after nation as compensation for the vengeance that was still out of his reach. He extended Russia’s hold over the world, to make up for his shortcoming in failing to kill just one person.

 

It was also a subconscious reason why Mikhail pushed Akihito so hard so early, he didn’t want to leave Akihito feeling powerless and incompetent as he had back then, incase the worst happened again.

Akihito needed to be stronger than him.

His little brother knew that.

It was why the younger Arbatov tried so hard. It was why Akihito’s biggest fear was Mikhail’s disappointment. The impact of their parents death still sent ripples through the organization to this very day.

 

Time never took away his blood lust, fueling that sadistic streak their lineage was notorious for; it morphed into something else for the two brothers, Mikhail even more so.

Every person he cut, burnt or skinned, every person he brutalized, every person he bled dry, it was all in preparation for James fucking Cashmore.

 

As the years went by, Mikhail learnt to detach that part of himself that hungered, his inner demon lurked beneath the surface, locked away, and he focused on Akihito and his upbringing, along with many of the younger generation, to make him and his friends the greatest they could be, so that when they were both ready, they could vanquish this problem together, because Mikhail wouldn’t have been able to do it alone.

 

He had too many deep-rooted fears of failure that always… held him back. He couldn’t risk the failure, because it wasn’t just him that yearned for retribution, so many other families did too, and if he failed, they would never get it, what they needed, closure.

 

Yuri tried to tell him once that he had PTSD. He remembered barking a soulless laugh at his uncle.

Him. Mikhail fucking Arbatov, suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder? How goddam ridiculous. He was just waiting for the right time was all.

 

Yeah, that’s what he kept telling himself. The scars on his back itched though.

 

For all his perfection in everything else, it was the one flaw that marred his golden status as an underworld king. He couldn’t be faultless, and this was his blemish, hidden beneath layers of power, money, guns and influence.

One that only Yuri, and Feilong knew about, Akihito knew, but he’d never seen him like this, not like the other two had.

 

Now Asami had seen too. Apart from Akihito or Cashmore himself, the Japanese man was the last person he would have wanted to see him like this.

 

But it was too late, he let out a shaky breath, opened his eyes and looked to see the Asian crime boss staring at him with an impassive air. Waiting. Typical.

 

“Call Feilong.” He heard his own voice say, he sounded hoarse, probably from his hollering. The Baishe leader wanted to fly straight back when he learnt of Akihito’s disappearance, but Mikhail told him it would be fine, he had Asami to help, and Feilong quieted, because they both knew Asami would be more than sufficient help given it was Akihito they were all concerned about.

 

He remembered his talk on the phone with Feilong as he sat outside Akihito’s office. He’d rung to update Feilong as he sat outside the room his little brother was brooding in, telling the Chinese of his rising bad feeling, telling Feilong he’d call him the moment he knew.

On the phone, the pair surmised it was better for Mikhail, Asami, Feilong and Akihito to plan it all in person if the storm did indeed break and swallow them all.

 

“I’ve already sent a message. He’s on his way.” Of course he would have, and Feilong would have been waiting for it.

It was good he was coming tonight, Mikhail and Asami couldn’t stay awake for ever, so Feilong and his team would take the reigns while the other two organizations finally got some rest after nearly three days of slogging it out. This arrangement was going to work well after all.

 

Mikhail felt tired now, weary with the weight of 16 years worth of tension ebbing back into his bones.

All he wanted to do right now, was crawl into bed beside his little brother, with his uncle in the bedside chair like they used too when it all first happened, and sleep.

 

His uncle understood then that he’d regained his wits, so let his wrists go, slowly, and got up from kneeling on his back so Mikhail could stand and regain his composure.

Which he did so instantly, this entire thing would be pointless if he was going to fuck it up and let emotion get in the way, the past sixteen years had been all for this.

 

He took a breath, and let it inflate his resolve once more despite his weariness. _Right. No more of this shit._ He was going to kill that fucker once and for all.

 

Reaching into his leather jacket, his hand tightened around the familiar colt 45 that nestled next to his heart, the metal warm from the heat of his skin reassured him.

Detached once more, he buried a bullet in the head of an unconscious Amir, the Saudi Arabian. The loud crack of the bullet exploding from the barrel enough to annihilate the last of his mental incapacity and give him back the clarity of thought that he was legendary for.

 

He returned the gun back to its cradle, and stalked out of the building, a quirked eyebrow from Asami enough of a question for Mikhail to start talking.

“Cashmore wouldn’t have let him know anything of worth, dealing with him now would just be a waste of our time.”

“Hn, nice to see you back with the world of the sane.” The Japanese man drawled.

“I’m not sane, Asami. Never have been, and never will be.”

He turned to Yuri and Siegfried, who opened the door to the vehicle that would take them back up to the house. “You can resume all our trades, place extra security on them still, but it’s better to run normally so that Cashmore doesn’t catch on that I know it’s him. We haven’t been shut down long enough for it to get out, yet.”

He sat down, and continued his litany of new orders as the black vehicle prowled into the night, up the hills, back to the main building.

 

He needed to call Putin in the morning too, along with telling Akihito and the rest of the men that lived at the estate. Putin would be easy, he wasn’t sure how it would go with Akihito in his current state, Cashmore took their parents, and he’d taken two of his best friends now too, not to mention he still had Johannes to deal with tomorrow.

 

There was a lot of work to do, Mikhail was a fine strategist, one of the best actually, but even he wasn’t sure how he was going to tackle this.

 

“Whatever you’re planning in that head of yours Mikhail, speak it out loud.” Gold eyes glowed from the seat next to him, ominous.

“How much do you know?” Mikhail was talking about the history; did the man know how deep he was getting himself with this?

“Not enough to understand why you lost your wits like that.” He said, blunt.

Mikhail groaned in shame, he really had lost it bad back there, fuck. Another thing Asami probably wouldn’t let him live down once this was all over.

“I need to know, Mikhail. I understand Cashmore is impossible to reach while he sits in his stronghold. But you’ve done the impossible before and come out alive. So why haven’t you done it yet?” Asami spoke in the indifferent drawl he was renowned for, but the increasing fire in his eyes betrayed him. He was in on this fight too.

“As you saw, I have…”

“Issues.” Asami finished for him, matter of fact as always. “They aren’t going to be a problem from now on.” It wasn’t a question, even though it should have been. Asami was telling him to get his shit together.

“No.” Mikhail answered in the same tone.

“That’s all I need to know until morning then.”

The car pulled up at the main house, and not one to care if people opened doors for him or not, Mikhail got out and started the short walk to the main doors, Yuri catching up while Siegfried took the car away after he let Asami out.

 

The three walked down the dark corridors to Akihito’s quarters once more, where Suoh and Kirishima were still standing, they seemed surprised to see them back so soon, but then the feeling of promised dread emitting from the two bosses hit them, and they both knew it was bad.

They held their breath.

“You can tell them.” The Russian said, if Asami trusted those two to stand outside Akihito’s room, not that they needed to in his own house, then Mikhail trusted them enough to know it was Cashmore, and the implications of it _being_ Cashmore.

Suoh Kazumi and Kirishima Kei weren’t people to take lightly, the moment you did that, would be the moment you regretted it. Kirishima may have been one of the smartest people on the planet, how many languages he spoke, Mikhail didn’t know, his computer skills and knowledge of the law were down right impressive, and then there was his weaponry abilities and although not possessed with a sadistic streak like his boss, he could still give as good as he got.

Suoh, a hulk of a man like Axel, could handle any sort of pressure in any situation and still hold his head, someone who could make snap decisions and take it all in his stride, he wasn’t the head of Asami Ryuichi’s security for no reason. The bastard was tough, loyal, intuitive and dangerous.

Cashmore was going to be in for a nasty fucking surprise, when not one, but three organizations came for him. Russian, Chinese and Japanese, yippee ki-yay motherfucker.

 

“I’ll debrief them in our quarters, and wait up for Feilong to arrive, he will get here before daylight.” Asami’s distant statement brought him back to the present, everyone was staring at the door to Akihito’s rooms.

Everything else could damn well wait, right now all he wanted to do was see his little brother, and make sure he was ok for himself, the organization could take the back seat until morning, now it was time for family.

“If anything happens while I’m asleep, Fei can deal with it. He can also tell you everything you want to know, so ask him.” _Because I’d rather not fucking tell you about it,_ he finished in his head. “And get some sleep too.”

“Hn. ‘Til morning then.” The Japanese man didn’t question why Mikahil and Yuri went into Akihito’s room, it was pretty obvious to everyone there.

 

*****

The pair of Russians stood at the foot of the bed in silence, assessing the youngest Arbatov’s condition on sight alone, his blonde hair was mussed and poking out at all angles, like it always did.

He slept deeply despite the huge amount of pain he must be in, Mikhail tsked at the reminder that it was Asami that helped his little brother get to sleep. Nope. He didn’t want to know.

 

Two pairs of grey eyes watched his chest rise and fall, grateful for each inhale and exhale, as long as they were all alive, it was fine.

“Uncle. How do you think he’s going to take it?” Mikhail asked without turning away from the scene of his brother sleeping.

 

He heard a sigh release some tension, and watched his Uncle stride to the side of the bed, placing an affectionate hand on Akihito’s head to muss his hair up some more. Akihito didn’t stir at all.

Yuri sat down in the lounger chair next to the bed then, kicked his boots off without care as to where they landed, and placed his feet on the footstool in front of him.

Hands clasped together over his stomach, Yuri shut his eyes and kept them shut, his face looked unworried as he relaxed into the cushioned chair, he was as unshakeable as ever.

“I don’t know, but he’ll surprise us all, I think.” His uncle mumbled quietly. Then he was asleep.

Mikhail couldn’t help but crack a smile. Fucking old geezer, falling asleep like that.

He deserved it though.

 

Mikhail followed suit, he sat down on the other side of the bed, methodically unlaced his black combat boots, placed them by the bedside dresser, and swung his feet up onto the mattress to sit against the padded headboard, his warrior like figure radiating protection and security around his family.

 

As his uncle did, he ruffled Akihito’s sleeping head, turning his hair into a right bird’s nest, he would have looked like he’d spent a night out on the town if it weren’t for the stitches on his cheek and the bruising he could see that made his blood run cold. It was a close one.

 

He resisted the urge to flick the little bastard’s forehead, going for another hair ruffle instead, this time, smoothing the gold locks down before pulling away and crossing his arms against his muscled chest.

“I’m sorry you lost so many, Akihito. But, don’t you fucking worry me like that again, you shit biscuit. I’m not losing you too.” He shut his eyes as he threw his head against the headboard.

 

It was good to talk to Akihito like this again, even if he were sleeping. I’d been tense over the past week, since that night at the casino. One week ago and it felt like a distant memory of better times now. He missed rough housing with his bro.

 

There was a smirk on his lips as he fell into the peace that was sleep next to his right hand man, his brother, and his friend, Akihito would hate them being here in the morning, claiming he didn’t want to be babied.

 

Well, he would just have to suck it the fuck up and accept it this time.

 

*****

 

 

Asami told his men everything, everything apart from Mikhail’s emotional break down, that was something he wouldn’t share, because seeing that, feeling the pure unfiltered rage as he struggled to contain Mikhail, had shaken him to his core.

 

Everyone had his or her own demons, Asami did, same with Feilong. Mikhail’s though, dwarfed theirs in comparison. Asami would call it what it was, that was a full-blown loss of control, a panic attack.

 

A terrifying panic attack. He wouldn’t put Mikhail passed killing him in that mindless state if he hadn’t restrained him in time. He truly was just a beast in civilized clothing right at that moment.

 

Before meeting Akihito, he doubted whether he’d be able to understand why Mikhail had that side, Asami would have deemed it a weakness.

 

But after seeing their bond, Akihito’s dedication to his friends, his work, his family, and seeing it reciprocated with tough love and adoration from Mikhail, and respect and reverence from his subordinates, he understood.

 

Mikhail would have had that sort of osmotic relationship with his parents, the importance of bonds was paramount, and it was taken away 16 years ago, and nearly again with Akihito.

 

Asami’s childhood and relationships were markedly different, growing up an only child in a clinical household, raised by butlers and maids, his parent’s wanted their son to be successful no matter the cost.

 

Compared to Mikhail’s, Asami’s parents were just a shadow in his past that turned up when it suited them, to Asami they were insignificant and it didn’t bother him.

 

Of course, Asami eliminated the people responsible for killing his mother and father, but that was more out of obligation to his own pride than anything else. His parents were dead, and he cared not a wit.

 

Liquid fire in his veins, animosity, what he felt when he looked at Akihito’s sleeping figure on his bed, that was something different though.

 

That’s what Mikhail felt in his pinky finger, the rest of him would feel it infinitely times more. How he hadn’t self-combusted by now, or gone stark raving mad was a testament to the Russian, and now Asami felt only respect and awe for him instead.

 

Mikhail Arbatov was indeed truly a frightening man, he was glad he wouldn’t be crossing paths with him in this life.

 

He chuckled to himself as he waited in one of the sitting rooms for Feilong to arrive, because not only did he want to get rid of James Cashmore for the sake of Akihito, but now he wanted it for Mikhail too. This Arbatov blood, it was infecting him.

 

The same thing had probably occurred to Feilong, which is why the Chinese and Russian organizations had ties that could never be broken. A few hours and Feilong would get here, and the biggest alliance in underworld history would be solidified. He was looking forward to it.

 

 

*****

 

 

Chinese sat opposite Japanese in a Russian sitting room, the two dismissed their men to talk in privacy, there was no tension between them this time as there was in the past, their conflict history was minor, and now it was erased.

 

Feilong told him everything, the panic attack that Asami saw was one of the better ones apparently, the first one Mikhail had in years, and rightly so, given what happened. It was all explained to him, right from the very day Dmitri and Yelena were killed.

 

Feilong had known Mikhail for that long, friends and then both leaders of their respective syndicates.

Then the smaller man went on in detail about the political side of things, and the conversation and tone in which Mikhail spoke to Putin earlier made sense.

 

This was a much bigger fight than Asami would have ever imagined, and he found himself eager for such a challenge. Akihito had brought so many interesting new developments into his life.

 

What Asami observed throughout their entire conversation though, was the way Feilong’s eyes went distant when he talked about the past, the tone in which he’d speak, almost whisper, when it came to Mikhail.

The open concern on his face when Asami explained what happened in the empty hangar, the look of relief when the Japanese man said he was resting in Akihito’s room.

“You care about Mikhail a great deal.” He stated once all the important facts had been exchanged.

“I do.” Feilong’s lips tightened in a tense smile, and he looked at nothing in particular, daydreaming as he spoke, “You know, I always tell Mikhail how similar Akihito is to him. How much Akihito reminds me of him when he was younger…”

“Before their parents died.” Asami concluded, he knew now.

“Hm. It’s scary sometimes, how much Akihito is the picture of Mikhail before that day. I guess that’s why I’m so drawn to him- oho don’t look at me like that. I acknowledge he must have let you in if you’re still here, the fact he let anyone in is good enough, or he’d end up with the same trauma as Mikhail, and none of us want to see him go through that.” In fluid movements, Feilong set his drink on the table in front of him and stood, “Get some rest Asami. Yoh and I can take care of anything that comes up until Mikhail wakes up.”

 

 

*****

 

 

Ouch. Motherfucking ouch.

His ribs hurt. His hip hurt. His shoulder fucking _hurt._ Opening his eyes hurt, but he forced them open anyway, they were so heavy.

Dammit, why couldn’t he just go back to sleep? He wasn’t ready to wake up, not yet. Not when some of his friends would ever - Oh, fuck he hurt.

Asami was right, it _was_ the first thing he thought about.

“You’re awake.”

Akihito turned his head slowly, painfully, and saw Mikhail sitting in his bedside chair, one leg folded atop the other with paper work on his lap. Yuri had a chair from his office and was going over files at the foot of his bed. They both looked ready. For what?

“You questioned Amir last night.” Akihito stated. Fuck the pain, all he wanted right now was answers.

Two sets of paper work hit the floor, and two sets of practiced blank eyes regarded him.

Mikhail motioned to his bedside table where some tablets and water waited. “Painkillers first Akihito, we have-”

“Mickey, what do you think I was doing last night? I wasn’t just looking at fucking maps. That Saudi bastard had someone pulling the strings, he’s too chicken shit and too rich to risk it, I want answers. I want blood, Mickey, ugh-” his left arm went to his ribs, clutching them as the strain became too much, and he was forced into shallow breathing to regain some breath.

His brother was kneeling at his bedside in an instant, Yuri stood behind him with water and drugs in hand.

“I can manage.” He said when they tried to help him sit up, it was hard going, shifting about with only one good arm but with gritted teeth and a stubborn glare he managed it.

“Shut up and take some fucking help, dipshit.” Mikhail fussed over the pillows behind his back.

“I’m not a goddam mental patient, I can manage-“

“You’re testing my bloody patience.”

“Are you two honestly fighting already?” Yuri cut in, amused, and relieved to see his nephews bickering.

The brothers both shut up, and Akihito took pain relief when his uncle offered it to him, never argue with uncle Yuri, unless you were teasing him about who you banged last night, then it was funny, every other time it was just shit scary.

“Mikhail, you should tell him now.” The light mood dissipated as Yuri sat on the side of his bed.

“Tell me what?” Akihito looked between the two of them.

Mikhail didn’t move from his kneeling position, his fists clenched the blankets, contradicting his cold expression. “Akihito....”

 

 

*****

 

 

They were waiting.

An impassive Asami, along with Suoh and Kirishima sat along one length of the meeting table, on the opposite side sat Feilong, Yoh, and two more of his men. All silent reflections of each other’s demeanor.

 

 

Siegfried and Axel were standing wait at the head of the table, Axel was brooding over the information Siegfried told him in the privacy of his rooms before they came to the meeting, and it showed. Everyone averted their eyes from the black haired Russian, who despite evident bruises on his face and his black sling, looked prepared for everything to come.

James Cashmore was responsible for his father’s death also, and now two of his closest friends, and nearly his best friend. He _was_ ready.

 

His fist clenched periodically while his other arm hung useless in a sling, even with his collarbone fractured, and his body battered, the pain took a back burner as his eyes locked on the door, waiting for Akihito to come through, he wanted to go to his rooms right away, but Mikhail requested privacy, and Axel couldn’t argue with that.

 

So he held it together, by a hair’s goddam breath he held it, because he knew Akihito would too. If he’d slept and eaten, like Asami said, Axel knew his friend’s head would have come out of the red zone.

 

He could feel it, that temperature change when an Arbatov decided they meant business, it was a crazy burn, when your freezing skin is suddenly immersed under the burning water of a scalding shower, and your body cant tell if it’s hot or cold anymore. It leaves you breathless. That’s what it meant to stand beside an Arbatov.

 

The men would know something was up, even if they hadn’t been told yet. How could they not, when you could hear a pin drop from the other side of the mansion.

Everyone was waiting for Johannes disposal, the day of dealing with traitors was always a quiet one, but today was even more eerie than usual.

 

The silence was broken, and men from three of the biggest crime syndicates in the world all turned their head as the polished wood door swung open to emit a three headed monster.

 

First in walked Akihito, his cheek swollen now, with hints of bruising on the side of his face, and he had an obvious limp, but he made it all look like part of his stride. By all rights he should have looked fragile, vulnerable after losing so much just a short time ago.

 

Only the opposite was true, he came in true Mafioso style. Tight fitted dress slacks tapered his legs all the way down the leather shoes that shone like the wealth he possessed.

 

Crisp white dress shirt, black tie, and blazer that all accentuated the way he held his chest out with pride, his back straight, body poised even with one arm tucked under the jacket in a sling.

 

His eyes that were cold and empty yesterday were cold still, cold in the way that froze you in your tracks, because those eyes would swallow a lesser man whole, full of calculation, determination and pure unrelenting ambitious will power.

 

It was often said in the underworld, that you had to understand what it was to lose something dear to you, your world taken off its axis and spun until you didn’t know up from down, for you to either truly be able to step into the realm of a respected leader, or become another victim of the felonious society that was life.

 

Only when the world stopped spinning, and your mind stopped reeling, could you take the first step into that realm, and become a person that could lead the unruly masses.

Because then you would understand loss, you would understand _reality_ , and last of all, you’d understand that you needed power to stop it from ever happening again. Power over yourself.

 

Here was Akihto Arbatov, taking his first steps back on his axis, and he knew exactly which way was up or down.

 

Behind him, the looming figures of Mikhail and Yuri followed, their demeanor not outshone by Akihito’s in the least, but added to it instead.

Their visage replicated Akihito’s, from the angled shoulders that could bear any burden, down to the manic glean in their eyes that would drive a rabid dog away.

Three Arbatovs sat at the head of the table in all their overwhelming glory, Mikhail in the middle, with Akihito and Yuri on either side.

 

All doubt and uncertainty vanished as the Russian team was complete when Axel sat down next to Akihito, and Siegfried next to Yuri.

 

A fly would have withered and died on the wall in that room as the forces all joined together and turned it into a cesspit of sickening power.

Mikhail kicked his chair back, placing his feet on the table and rocking on two legs of his chair instead of four, his mouth smiled, and his eyes danced with a sick sense of excitement, “Let’s get this party started.”

 


	19. Side Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if Akihito was home when Asami arrived in Moscow?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omake, for crimson_elf90 on Live Journal. Thank you for your constant support and comments that always make me laugh! I finally got around to writing this!
> 
> A little bit of a fun side story in between the serious chapters. Enjoy!
> 
> This is OOC even for my characterizations, you were warned -_-

“Where’s Akihito?” Asami asked when he noticed that the younger Arbatov wasn’t with his brother.

 

Mikhail crossed his arms nonchalantly, “You’re shit out of luck, he’s not here.”

“Where is he?” Feilong and Asami asked at the same time. Everyone was standing at the double door entranceway now, Mikhail refusing to invite them in.

 

“He’s taking a day off, him and his men just got back from Syria after a successful transport job, he’s been asleep for the last 12 hours.” Yuri answered for Mikhail, before gesturing for them to come in. Mikhail rolled his eyes at his uncle.

 

“I’m not staying,” Feilong stayed where he was, “I only did this so you two would stop sulking and talk to each other.”

“I am not sulking!” Mikhail pouted, “thanks a bunch, Fei, can’t fucking trust anyone anymore.”

“Oh, shut up! Sort it out or I’ll take Akihito for myself and you’ll both never see him again.” Feilong pointed an accusatory finger at Mikhail, and then at Asami, before swiftly turning with a flick of his black hair and getting back into the armored four-wheel drive where Yoh was waiting.

 

“Ugh, I’m fucking stuck with you now. If it were up to me you’d still be in Belarus.” Mikhail glared at Asami, before stalking off across the foyer and down a wide hall way with elaborate carpets, ornate paintings and chandelier light fixtures.

Asami wondered in what part of the house Akihito’s quarters were, that was something he’d have to find out if he were to be staying here tonight.

 

Mikhail and Yuri led them through the house toward the guest wing, a childish frown made an appearance on Mikhail’s face as Yuri glared at his nephew, who finally gave in and offered them lodgings.

“Fine! You can stay, not like we don’t fucking have room, but you’re gone tomorrow. Suppose you want food and shit too?”

“Mikhail!” Yuri scolded.

The mob leader looked unabashed and crossed his arms over his chest, “What? My fucking mansion.”

“Your father would turn in his grave.” The older Arbatov gave an exasperate sigh, and placed a palm on his forehead in a grimace.

 

Asami chose to ignore Mikhail completely, and from the corner of his eye as he spoke pleasantries with Yuri, he could see the Russian crime boss bristle, if he were a cat, his tail would have been twitching and his ears would have been back. Why did the Russians remind him of cats? It was more amusing than plucking someone’s fingernails off one by one.

 

As they made it to the guest wing, Mikhail gave up his front and stomped off in a huff, as his uncle kept being nice to his unwanted guests. Sure, Mikhail was the boss, but there were some things with his uncle Yuri that he couldn’t win. Hospitality to those Japanese fucktards was one of them.

 

“I’ll get him to talk to you, he’s always unreasonable when it comes to Akihito.” Yuri said, with a hint of question in his voice. Testing Asami.

“Mm. So am I, it seems.” Asami answered truthfully.

It must have been the right answer, because the stoic veteran chuckled, a haughty sound that had many years worth of weariness behind it, “We all are. Welcome to the club.”

They shook hands in silent understanding, and Yuri told them to rest and that they were welcome to stay as long as they wanted, though he couldn’t guarantee Asami’s survival if Mikhail found him anywhere near Akihito’s room.

 

 

\----Omake----

 

Asami and his men had just eaten dinner in the guest dining room, the food was exquisite, despite Mikhail’s reluctance to feed them at all, but he left before the dessert course was brought out, blegh.

 

He was fidgeting, yes, _fidgeting,_ as he lay back on his bed in his suite, how could he sit still when Akihito was somewhere in the same house.

Even at the risk of Mikhail going nuclear on them all again, Asami still wanted to find the youngest crime boss. He was tired of checking his phone to find no new text messages from the only person he wanted a text from.

 

The only problem was how he was going to find Akihito’s quarters in this positively massive building, if you took the building Asami lived in, and laid it out horizontal instead of vertical, Mikhail’s main building would still be larger. Shit.

 

In tandem with his inwards curse, his phone bleeped on the polished oak nightstand next to his four post bed, his large hand scrabbled for it with uncharacteristic haste, hopeful, only to find _Feilong’s_ name flash on the screen. What?

 

Upon opening the message though, his eyes gleaned, and he smirked a smirk that his lips hadn’t formed all week. _Feilong, you old dog._

 

In the text were directions to get to Akihito’s rooms from the guest quarters by sneaking outside. How old fashioned, but how fun. He didn’t wait, he left Kirishima a note and hopped out the window, doing his best impression of a ninja as he stalked through the gardens of the estate quietly, he wanted to get to Akihito’s rooms as quick as possible.

 

\----Omake----

 

  _Click. Clack._

Akihito ignored the noise, vaguely hearing it, muffled through the haze of exhausted sleep. Fucking Syria and the entire route through Egypt was hot as balls, he’d been out cold for 12 hours from heat exhaustion and was just coming out of it, but he wasn’t ready to wake up yet.

 

_Clack. Clack._

 

Ugh, the cause of that goddam noise was going to die a horrible death if they kept it up. He rolled over in his Egyptian cotton sheets, and pulled a plush pillow over his head. Mildly better.

 

_Click, clack, click._

“Uugh!” That mother fucking noise! Absolutely murderous, Akihito shot up from his bed, wearing only his black briefs, and glared at everything in the room, trying to locate the piece of shit sound. Akihito hated being woken up before needed to be, heads were going to roll.

 

_Clack, clack._

Growling, he picked up a colt 45 from his dresser and cocked his ear to listen. He knew it wouldn’t be anything dangerous, the gates and fences around the estate were like Fort fucking Knox, add on the security dogs and handlers that patrolled the grounds, and not even an ant would make it to this part of the house uninvited.

 

_Click. Click._

The window. The fuck? If this was a prank, no one would end up laughing this time, he wasn’t beyond a bullet through someone’s leg to be honest. None of his men would be thick skulled enough to try anything anyway, they’d all be just as pissed off at being woken up as he was right about now. So, what was it then?

 

The light taps on the window continued as he prowled over, not bothered by his lack of dress, a gun was clothing enough, he ripped the curtain back, and in the same motion pushed the windows out, only to have a pebble hit him in the chest as the chilly night air tickled his skin.

 

“The hell?” he looked at the pebble that was now on the floor, and back out into the darkness. He flicked the safety off his colt, and aimed the barrel into the night.

 

Asami mother fucking sexy goddam dragon Ryuichu stepped into the light, with a handful of pebbles from the garden in one hand, and a self satisfied smirk on his face. He kept his gun up.

 

“You woke me up.” Akihito drawled dangerously low as Asami strolled closer to the window. He didn’t care why or how the fucker was here, he only cared that someone had woken him up.

 

“Oh? Nice to see you too.” Asami teased as he eyed Akihito’s bare form, he placed his hands on the windowsill, and leant in, uncaring of the gun Akihito still had pointed callously at him. This bastard! It was clear he wasn’t going anywhere.

“You didn’t need to throw rocks at my window, I’m on the ground floor, you’re not sixteen, and this isn’t a movie.” Akihito deadpanned, stepping away from the window and waving the gun around nonchalantly. Maybe he didn’t want him to go anywhere anyway. He wasn’t sure.

“Fufu, but isn’t that what secret boyfriends do?” The Japanese hitched a leg over the windowsill, and then he was in Akihito’s room. He was actually in Akihito’s room, in Russia, and Mikhail was in the house. This was like, the most daredevil thing Akihito had done in the entirety of his life.

“Not secret anymore, thanks to you. Why are you here, Asami?” Akihito chose to say at last, well aware of the way Asami was devouring him with his eyes as he looked longingly at his bed, well, that’s all the sleep he was going to get.

“To rescue you, of course.”

“From what? I’m not a fucking damsel.” Akihito crossed his arms, and gave the Japanese man an unimpressed look.

“From your asshat brother-” was all Asami managed to get out, before the gun was cocked towards him again.

“It would be pretty fucking lame if I shot you with your own gun, and don’t think I won’t do it.”

“…..”

“Seriously. Why are you here?” Akihito threw the gun on his bed before running a hand through his sleep-skewed hair and sighing.

“You aren’t texting me back.” Asami stated simply, looking him right in the eye as he said so. For a guy like Asami, that was the closest to a pout as he would ever get.

The blonde scoffed, dammit, the man was softening him up, because that look was seriously cute.

“That’s all you have to say?” he said instead, he went to shut the windows, because Asami must have been born in a damn tent and didn’t bother closing them after he’d come in, so it was getting cold.

“I have a pretty good reason for not texting you back, apart from focusing on not getting my brains blown out in one of the most dangerous parts of the world all last week.” No way was he putting clothes on in the comfort of his own quarters, Asami could gawk all he wanted, he padded to across the bedroom, through the door to his outside living area, where he chilled in the miniscule amount of spare time he had now days.

 

He could feel Asami’s eyes on his ass the entire time, yeah, let that bastard look, because he sure as hell wasn’t touching again... Yet.

 

At his liquor cabinet, he took out two crystal tumblers and a decanter of whiskey, a make that he knew Asami liked from one of their many rounds of 21 questions they had on the phone, and poured for them both as he waited for an answer.

 

Akihito sat down, comfortable in his own skin, on his suede lounger, and watched curiously as Asami bypassed the cabinet and the glass that Akihito left there for him, and went to the door which led to the hallways instead.

Shit! Did he lock it? They must have both been thinking the same thing, remembering the incident where Mickey walked in on him just as he was about to get his dick out on the phone to Asami, because Asami’s hand reached to test the handle….. at the exact same time a heavy fist thumped on the door, and the handle rattled as it was tested from the other side. It was locked.

“Oi, Akihito, are you awake, you fucker?!” Mikhail’s impatient fist thumped on the door, Akihito’s heart quickened to match the loud pounding. Oh, holy fucking shit balls. No way.

 

A dream, this was a dream, right? A really fucking bad one.

 

He looked to Asami, who had a shit-eating grin on his face as he stared at the door, just, fuck no.

The Japanese man turned to smirk at him, as if his life wasn’t in danger, and leant his back against the door, which was being bashed harder now.

“Oi, Asami, you fucking rim pirate. I know you’re in there. You touch him and I’ll chop your hands off!” came the snarl from outside. Akihito winced, Mickey was angry.

“Fufu, looks like he knows where I got to.” Asami whispered, as he stared at Akihito with out right _mischief_ , in his eyes. Doomed, everyone in this mansion right now was doomed.

 

 

Before this, Akihito wasn’t sure if someone as young and healthy as him could go into cardiac arrest for no apparent reason other than dread, but he was pretty fucking close to it now.

 

His heart near burst in his chest as Asami came a few inches away from the door, smirked one last devilish smirk, and then slammed himself backwards against the door, _moaning_ deep ashe did so.

 

What the actual fuck…

 

Time stopped as Asami continued staring at him with a playful fire in his eyes, he threw himself against the door again, and the pounding on the other side stopped when Asami groaned, ridiculously loud, Akihito could swear it vibrated the entire room with the intensity and depth of that sound.

“Oh, yesss.” Asami hissed, still smirking, though he managed to sound convincing enough, there was a few more angry smashes on the other side of the door, but Asami’s next words stopped them mid pound.

“Ah, deeper, Akihito.” Asami choked out through breaths, wait, what?

“Faster.” Asami feigned a moan again, with another slam against the door.

Akihito couldn’t help it, jus the _notion_ of him _fucking_ Asami against the door that his brother was standing on the other side of, had a shit eating grin matching Asami’s gracing his face.

He held a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter, because there was absolute silence coming from the other side of the door now.

“Nooo, don’t do it, Akihito.” Mikhail whined then, “You’ll get diseases!” came the next outburst from his brother, meanwhile Asami kept making lewd noises against the door, and Akihito couldn’t tear his eyes off it the spectacle as he got up, and trod quietly to stand in front of the Japanese man in his room.

“You’re a horrible actor.” Akihito whispered as he dropped to his knees, “I’ll help you make it more convincing.”

Asami was fully hard by the time Akihito undid his belt, unzipped his pants and pulled them down enough to free the sizeable erection staring him in the face.

That playful fire was mixed with hot lust, he stared up at the sexy fucker who was breathing heavy for real now.

Gold eyes looked back down at Akihito as he took the man into his mouth, and lapped circles around the head, before taking him deep into his throat and swallowing around the hot flesh, massaging the head with the contractions of his throat.

“Fuck, more!” A hand went to grip his hair tight, at the same time Asami threw his head back against the door with proper urgency this time.

It might have been acting before, but it wasn’t now.

Asami kept up the charade of being fucked though, moaning words like ‘deeper, and harder’ as Akihito kept deep throating him.

“Oi, Akihito you horny little shit!” Came the crass yell from the hallway, it sounded less angry than before.

“You make sure you fucking plough his ass good, if Asami can walk tomorrow, then you fail at life. You hear me!” there were a few more bangs on the door, and then it stopped, and the pair knew Mikhail had given up and gone.

 

After a few moments, Akihito pulled away before Asami shot his load down his throat, the larger man looked disheveled, hot, and just as sexy as Akihito remembered from their night at his condo.

The hand stayed in his hair though, and pulled him up in desperation for a kiss, chuckling into Akihito’s mouth as he pushed him back towards his bedroom.

Asami’s jacket came off, followed by more kisses, then his vest and tie, finally his shirt, pants and shoes as the made it to the edge of Akihito’s expansive bed.

“How do you want it?” Asami breathed hot words into his ear as he forced him back on the bed. “Let me make it up to you.” he wasn’t talking about the blowjob, he was talking about the shit storm that blew up the night at the casino.

“Haa,” the blonde’s back arched off the bed as Asami placed kisses all over his midsection, urgent, earnest and gentle. “I think… hn, the show.. at the door, haa. Was enough.” He managed to breath out, squirming under Asami’s possessive ministrations.

“No, it’s not enough. How do you want it?” the Asian crime boss asked again, stopping what he was doing to stare at Akihito with a look that Akihito couldn’t place.

“Hard and fast.” Akihito answered without hesitation, because that’s what he wanted, he didn’t much feel like gentle Asami with all the adrenaline flooding his veins right now.

That smirk came back then, and rough needy hands tore at Akihito’s briefs, lucky he showered before he went to sleep yesterday, because Asami went down, all the way down, pushing lightly muscled thighs apart to nestle in between them on the bed, and without warning, rolled his tongue over Akihito’s entrance with skilled motions.

 

“Oh, shit!” Akihito hissed this time, throwing his head to the side as he clenched the blankets in tight fists. He quickly became undone as a finger joined the hot tongue, alternating between rough finger fucking and mind blowing rimming as he was stretched.

 

Writhing now, and grinding back into Asami’s fingers in desperation for more, he cursed when the fingers withdrew, “Hurry up, old man, fuck me, fuck me.” He chanted, locking gazes with the feline eyes that were moving up over top of him.

“Hard and fast was it, hm?” Asami drawled, he hitched one leg over the man’s shoulder, an invitation.

“As hard as you can.” Akihito smirked as he ran his nails over Asami’s back, the Japanese man shuddered, and sucked in a breath as his eyes shut.

“Oh, anything to make it up to you, Akihito.” Asami purred, before he proceeded to keep Akihito up the entire night.

 

\----Omake----

 

The next morning, to everyone other than Akihito’s and Asami’s bewilderment, Asami pretended to shuffle around the mansion as if he was the one who’d been fucked hard all night and well into the morning.

Akihito jacked himself up on painkillers, and kept up the act by walking as normal as he could, while Japanese and Russian alike wondered what the fuck was going on with the world.

Mikhail stayed in his room all day and sulked.

 


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning, I guess.

Men from three different nations spoke in the meeting room for hours, laying out a plan, deciding that it had too many holes in it, before wiping the slate clean to start all over again.

 

The normally loose Russians knew that even this time, their plan had to be executed with the utmost precision, or it was going to end in blood, a lot of blood, everyone’s except James Cashmore’s.

 

The events from the previous two weeks turned out to be something they could use in their favor, and it was Akihito who made an offhanded remark that quickly snowballed them all into thought, suggestions and the tuning of fine details.

Like a well-oiled machine, the cogs of Russia, China and Japan all churned together in perfect sync.

 

After hours of intense conversation that drained them all, the men present put their minds to good use to come up with a plan that had them all feeling quietly confident in their own heads.

 

That confidence was never voiced out loud though, because as good as a plan struck up by a roomful of tactical genius’s might be, something could always go wrong, and no one was willing to jinx it, even though crime lords didn’t believe in such a farcical thing as a jinx.

 

No paper work, no computers, no storage devices whatsoever were present during their stratagem session, that was another risk no one was willing to take, if the information should fall into the wrong hands, then it would be over before it even truly began.

 

Instead, the entire meeting was stored away in memory banks of the human kind, and the tense feeling began to ebb as they all agreed this plan was the course of action they would all take.

 

There was an agreeable silence as each man contemplated his own thoughts on the matter; Mikhail, who felt he could tackle this beast at last with his little brother and closest men by his side, was rearing to go.

Akihito next to him; was staring off into space, the only things on his mind was to be strong until this entire thing was over, for Mikhail, for their men, for Vlad and Kristof, and that he needed to focus on healing as fast as possible, along with his men and Axel. He accepted defeat in the fact he couldn’t work himself into the ground, and resigned himself to rest.

 

Feilong sat twirling a length of his hair; his only hope was that Mikhail and Akihito would finally get what they needed, and that they would both come out alive. In some dark place in the back of his head however, he was devising his own plan for vengeance if it were to go awry. Because with a man like Cashmore; you have to plan for every eventuality.

 

The viscous silence in the room reflected that harsh reality.

 

Opposite Feilong; Asami, who had a big role in this plan, sat back in his chair with cold resolve settling on his features. This was the biggest challenge him, or anyone in this room had faced in their entire lives, and there was nothing Asami Ryuichi liked more than a challenge. This one he wouldn’t be winning alone though, and he was surprised at himself to find that thought didn’t bother him.

A man like Asami usually didn’t like to share in victory.

 

Twelve weeks from now, and this would end, one way or another.

 

 

“Right!” Mikhail barked, cutting off the apprehensive silence in an instant as all eyes were directed to the head of the table. “The most important question is how we’re going to kill the fucker once we get our hands on him.” This was accentuated with his fist slamming down on the table in enthusiasm, while next to him Akihito’s lip curled in a viscous snarl and the only thing that betrayed Yuri’s agreement was the way his blue eyes sparkled with a sick sense of fervor.

 

The room took on the feel of impending madness as Mikhail and his younger brother began to throw suggestions back and forth, in surprisingly casual banter, which made it even more sickening, as if they’d been thinking about it for years, and the ideas they were coming up with were mere everyday happenstances, because they had been in their own heads up until this point.

 

They’d denied themselves for so long, suppressed their hunger and _need_ for this, and it was finally coming to the surface in a multiple of three, plus the exponential amount that each man would add once they were all told.

A bloody morsel was now dangling in front of the organization for the first time in 16 years, and the mafia was hungry, _starving._

 

The room was broiling with pure Russian fire.

 

“Let’s just fucking debone the bastard alive, cut a hole and just pull his bones out.” Mikhail sneered, kicking himself back in his chair once more has he mimicked his idea with his hands, making it seem violent even though it was only a mime.

 

“Naa.” Akihito negated, he was slouched in his chair now that the painkillers were wearing off, and it was more comfortable that way, taking the pressure off his ribs. Next to him, stone-faced Axel was in the same state, the pair was still exhausted, but they seemed to know they didn’t have to put up a front as much as before.

 

The hazel-eyed blonde cocked his head in thought after a moment, “I reckon he’d die too fast that way.” It was as unabashed as ever, and not meant as a joke at all, more like whether he was deciding to bring his umbrella with him on an overcast day or not.

 

“Well, I don’t see you coming up with anything else, shitty brat.” Quick as a fox, Mikhail’s hand shot out and was ruffling Akihito’s hair rather forcefully, pissing the young brother off as his head was pushed around under the strength of Mikhail’s rough hand. They both had hints of fond amusement in their eyes despite Mikhail’s words and Akihito’s protests, and the heavy mood began to lighten.

 

Everyone could see the shadows under Akihito’s eyes that’d formed over the course of the meeting, and Mikhail was encouraging his brother on in his own distinctly annoying way, because they still had a big day ahead.

 

“Oiiii.” Akihito whined, “stop it!” his hair was now a dreaded bird’s nest, blonde locks poking out at all angles as he tried to slap Mikhail’s hand away with his good arm.

He failed. Mikhail snatched his hand back with just as much speed, all the while his tongue shot out of his mouth to poke fun at the lack of Akihito’s usual swiftness.

“Nyah.” Mikhail mocked. “ _and_ , you still don’t have any better suggestions than mine, so I win.”

 

So mature, Mikhail, everyone thought, but it was working perfectly to distract Akihito.

 

Akihito’s brows furrowed furiously as he thought, if Mikhail was going to make it a competition, no matter how fucking tired he was, he wasn’t going down without a fight, and his eyebrows shot up the moment the light bulb went off in his head, “Knit a scarf with his own innards and strangle him with it.” He gave one definitive nod of his head, deciding he’d won this one.

 

Yuri sighed as he always did, before chuckling and just shaking his head.

Feilong’s own laughter tinkled throughout the room as Yoh gaped next to him, he wasn’t aware Akihito was that unhinged.

 

Asami however, smirked the most devious smirk he could muster as he gazed at Akihito through hooded gold lenses, he hadn’t taken his eyes off him all morning, Akihito had yet to smile today, but this was an improvement everyone needed.

 

Mikhail on the other hand, wasn’t fazed at all. “You fucking dork, as if any of us at this table can knit.”

Akihito huffed, “It’s the thought that counts, bastard.” He ran a hand through his hair in attempts to tame the mess, and was only mildly successful.

While this was happening, Asami leant over to Kirishima and murmured quiet orders in his ear, to which the bespectacled secretary visibly paled as the smirk on Asami’s lips continued to curl upward.

Suoh raised a questioning brow, who’d been impassive the entire morning while stowing away information in his memory bank, as was his job, Asami was taking the biggest immediate risk after all, and he couldn’t bring himself to relax despite the mood changing.

 

The quiet exchange had garnered everyone’s attention by now, and Asami simply lit a cigarette and raised a questioning brow back at them all before flicking his lighter open. 

 

The sharp hiss of the flint was drowned out as the loud thunder claps of arriving helicopters boomed above the building, growing in volume as the aircrafts got closer.

 

Just like that; the mood change dissipated and it went back to the same intensity as before, restrained fury, leashed blood lust and controlled chaos held the air taught as the Russian party heard the first men from posts around the globe arrive to be given the news.

 

The meeting was over as soon as the first chopper touched down, and they all began to stand from their seats and file out from the room in no respective order.

 

Akihito and Axel on the other hand; hung back, to everyone’s discrepant notice as the door shut, and Mikhail wordlessly thanked Asami as he left to tend to the arrival of his men with the Chinese Party, Yuri and Siegfried, because he left the Japanese crime lord and his two men to stand outside the door to wait in knowing silence.

 

 

*****

 

 

Once the door shut, it left Akihito and Axel alone together and actually _feeling_ something for the first time in days, as opposed to bottling everything away and pretending like work must go on like it usually did.

 

Axel’s only usable arm shot out to wrap itself around his friend in a rough, brotherly embrace as Akihito did the same.

 

They fell apart together as only best friends could, because only best friends could pick up the pieces for the other, they’d both just been holding out until this point, until the meeting was over.

 

It was something that hadn’t been said, a thought that in both of their minds had been vehemently avoided up until now, up until they didn’t know _who_ they were dealing with, but now it dawned on them that it was a very real possibility that either one or both of them could have died as well.

 

Dying was not something they ever thought about, the pair had always looked forward, but they knew this time they’d really cut it close, too close for either of their adrenaline loving systems to cope with.

 

To Akihito, the thought was exactly the same as losing Mikhail, and to Axel, it was akin to losing everything, because his sole purpose was to safeguard Akihito’s life, as his father’s job had been to Dmitry Arbatov, as Yuri’s job was to Mikhail, so was his job to Akihito.

 

They gripped each other as tight as one arm would allow in thanks; thanks for surviving, thanks for living, ‘thanks for making it back with me, when others didn’t.’

 

“Boss, trust me when I fucking say it’s not your fault next time.” Axel mumbled as he stepped away, he placed his hand on Akihito’s uninjured shoulder and gave him a shake for good measure, and when he got no answer, he shook harder, “Oi.”

 

The blonde’s head hung low as he looked at the floor, exhausted, and he let one tight throated sob out before he could bring himself to answer, “…. I know, still-”

 

“Still nothing, alright! If you try to carry this alone, I won’t forgive you for it!” Axel’s deep voice cracked as he willed his friend to look at him rather than the floor, a man like his boss didn’t suit this sullen expression. “We are a fucking team, a family, Mikhail has you and Yuri, and you have _me_ , you got that?”

 

Akihito’s head snapped up at that, his eyes wide as his shoulders sagged and let go some of the tension that’d been building ever since the meeting began, all he was thinking up until this point was to be strong, to look forward and never backward so he would never falter, but he’d failed to realize that if he tripped there would be so many people there to help pick him up, and the first person to help would always be Axel.

“Got it.” He dipped his head in acceptance, and with the exchange of understanding in their eyes, the two became a cohesive unit once more, and their strength was renewed. “Give me a minute, will ya?”

The Russian juggernaut clapped him on the shoulder, grunting in acquiesce “I’ll be waiting, bossman.” And he left Akihito to put the last of himself together again.

 

 

 

 

*****

 

The three Japanese all turned to look at the door as it swung open, the noise of helicopters touching down, and armored vehicles arriving was beginning to increase, which meant Akihito would be needed soon, as men from both Mikhail’s and Akihito’s companies began to gather on the greens at the back of the mansion.

 

Axel came out by himself though, looking a lot less foreboding than before as he addressed them all, “He just needs a minute.”

 

Asami couldn’t wait another minute, because the only down fall of their plan, was that Asami would leave at the end of the week, and they wouldn’t see each other again until the set date 12 weeks from now. A minute was valuable. He needed that minute.

 

He stepped up to the door, which Axel was looming in front of, and was met with a brown-eyed challenge, until the Russian acknowledged him with a brief nod and stepped aside.

 

Stepping lightly into the room, he was greeted with Akihito leaning against the table, taking one composing breath after another with his head thrown back to the stare at the ceiling. The image of the suited blonde before him seemed to take up the entire room, as spacious and large as it was.

“Couldn’t wait one minute, could ya?” Akihito spoke half heartedly as he let his head fall to watch Asami come closer.

“And if I couldn’t?” Asami drawled, his eyes glued to the figure, running up and down to check his condition, his eyes were intensified once more after his moment with Axel, but his body was tired, it would take more then one night to recover from his ordeal.

 

He was answered with a one-shouldered shrug, and the noise around the Arbatov estate dropped back to its usual decibel as the engine of the last helicopter wound down, indicating it was time for them to go.

Instead of turning to leave when Akihito pushed himself away from the table, Asami stepped up to Akihito instead, chest to chest as he looked down at him to card a hand through his unruly hair.

 

This close, Asami could marvel at the color of Akihito’s eyes, flecks of greens and browns striated around pupils that were focused back on him just as intently, the stitches on his cheek were helping the skin knit back together cleanly, and the bruising around it was already beginning to yellow.

He had weary dark circles under his eyes, but those signs of tiredness were completely negated as he watched Akihito take one more inflating breath to fan his inner fire, so he could keep powering on.

He was a remarkable creature.

 

“It’s really fucking disgusting how good looking you are, you know, you could at least look a little tired.” Akihito deadpanned without breaking eye contact.

“And you look like shit.” Asami teased with a chuckle.

Pissed, Akihito’s snapped with a pout, “Not like I can fucking help it, asshole.” Asami continued laughing as the blonde tried to side step him, but he would have none of that, because that pout was adorable on the 23-year-old Mafioso.

Quickly, and as carefully as he could manage, he snaked a hand around Akihito’s waist, and trapped the tense figure’s back to his chest in an embrace, nuzzling the back of Akihito’s hear and inhaling that minty spice of the Russian’s scent as he did so.

“I couldn’t wait a minute, Akihito.” Came Asami’s low drawl of admittance into the back of Akihito’s neck, and he relished the way his words could make the Russian relax in his arms.

“… Stay in my rooms this week.” Akihito finally told him, he never made it a question, because he didn’t need to ask.

“I’ll have my things moved before tonight.”

 

“Good, now stop fucking cuddling me, you clingy dragon, lets go.”

 

Amused, Asami let go and followed Akihito out and down the halls with a pleased smirk on his face.

 

*****

 

 

The Japanese and Chinese parties were forced to watch from a distance outside as Mikhail and Akihito dealt with their Russian contingents, Asami truly got to evaluate the strength of the Russian side as he eyed the leader of the respective locations men had flown in from.

 

It was the first time he’d seen Akihito interact with more than a handful his men, to see if the information he first read in the dossier about loyalty was true, and he could see in an instant that it was.

 

From the first smile Akihito greeted them all with, the Japanese crime boss could see the trust that went both ways, the care Akihito had for his subordinates, and the confidence the men had in their boss, reciprocal and natural.

 

 

Along with an impassive faced Russian, intimidatingly tall, with sand blonde hair and observant blue eyes, there was a red haired British man who looked to be Asami’s age, in an impeccable suit, with sharp eyes and a chiseled face, both power figures in their own right, they were Akihito’s subordinates who oversaw operations on the land mass that was the United Kingdom, they were accompanied by an Irishman in a leather jacket with tattoos on his neck, and sturdy rings on his fingers that most likely still had bits of flesh in them, the brawn for the brain, their head of security. A good one, Asami could see the man’s eyes missed nothing.

 

Asami surmised they were a worthy choice, as was his Colombian and Brazilian choices and their men.

Two more Russians, one of Yuri’s age and stoic demeanor, and one of Akihito’s age and crazy disposition, stood with their Brazilian and Colombian accompaniments, and despite some being different nationalities, the entire group seemed to gel as they all greeted their boss with a firm handshake, though the oldest Russian took it upon himself to mock the state of Akihito’s hair, as a father would a son, and the group ended up sharing a moment of unguarded laughter.

 

None of them questioned their boss’s condition, because it was obvious that was why they were here.

 

He could comprehend the gravity of Akihito’s weariness now, the men placed this much faith in him, and with telling them all about Syria, about Cashmore and the plan, he was essentially telling them all that in 12 weeks they would either live, or die, because if they failed; Cashmore would decimate them all.

It was a heavy burden for someone like Akihito, who looked at all his men like family, but he was carrying it well, just as his brother Mikhail had for the past sixteen years. The talk alone with Axel had lifted his spirits infinitely.

 

Looking at Mikhail’s group now, Asami was faced with what he would call a terrifying sight, because surrounding Mikhail, was a gathering of veterans that made Asami, Feilong and Mikhail alike seem like spring chickens, to put it simply.

 

These were men from Dmitry Arbatov’s generation, men Yuri had known his entire life, comrades and friends, all men who’d lived through war, destruction and chaos for years on end, to come out on the other side on top and in power.

 

These men, with their hardened eyes devoid of anything, and jaws set with ambition and will power, were posted in Mikhail’s biggest, most important locations; Vladivostok; Russia, Berlin; Germany, Stockholm; Sweden, Bern; Switzerland, as well as a handful more from throughout Europe.

These men were the reason Mikhail’s hold over the continent was never questioned, because to do so would be suicide. It was obvious on their faces, that whatever they all saw in Dmitry, they saw in both his sons, because as the initial greetings were over, and Akihito’s party and Mikhail’s melded into one, that familiar Arbatov vibe took over, and they all broke into a genuine smiles upon seeing each other.

 

Hugs between Akihito and the elders were exchanged before it was Axel’s turn for affection, along with laughter, hair ruffles and firm handshakes, who knew how long it’d been since they were all together, but looking from the outside in, it was as if no time has passed since then at all.  


All these terrifying men were a family in truth, with Mikhail and Akihito at its heart, watching them all, Asami was forced to admit that if he were to ever come up against Mikhail’s organization; he would lose.

 

 

*****

 

 

The first vicious shouts of rage sounded from inside the meeting hall adjacent to the mansion, marking the moment that James Cashmore’s name would have been announced to them all, the men that’d flown in, and every single man from Mikhail and Akihito’s sides that lived on the estate.

 

Asami, Feilong and their men were standing wait outside, incase any men lost it as bad as Mikhail had and started to go on a rampage, they would be outside ready for anything.

 

More shouts joined the chorus, roars and howls for vengeance, as if the Russians were a caged beast in that building, however no one came out the doors, and a booming voice of what could only be Mikhail’s, silenced them all once more; he would be relaying their plan now, which Asami had been hesitant about.

 

 

Hesitant because it was a risk to let so many men in on, after all there’d just been betrayal from the inside within Akihito’s men, Mikhail and Akihito had just turned to him then, and mirroring each other, had both said that _that_ was the reason they could tell so many, because when they dealt with Johannes, they would all get a reminder of what would happen to them if they ever so much as breathed a word to any outsider.

 

 

*****

 

 

 

Another hour later, the doors opened, and over a hundred men from the Russian organization began to file out with Mikhail and Akihito exiting first, Asami’s eyes went to his lover straight away, pleased to see that fierce glint in his eyes still as he joined in the walk beside them towards the grassed standing area.

 

The air was volatile, easy to see some men hadn’t taken the news well, but where one angry Russian was, there was a Russian less angry next to him, keeping him in check, and thus the precarious balance kept the syndicate stable.

 

Once everyone was standing on the green, in a circle around Akihito, who’d taken center stage now, Asami sent the text for his men to bring Johannes out from confinement.

 

Asami had no idea how they dealt with traitors here, with his men he had them perform seppuku, a horribly painful and humiliating way to die, a death fit for a traitor, but he knew he was only let in on this extremely secretive event because they were letting him know what would happen to him if he should ever decide to cut ties with the Russians. Not that it would ever happen.

 

Nauseating silence took over as the minutes dragged by, until a commotion at the edge of the green, along with snarls and Russians curses.

Johannes was brought to the center, wearing only black briefs and chains that clinked as they dragged along the grass, the ode to his death march.

 

He was pale, and had visibly thinned over three days, Asami had reports from his men that every meal he’d been given had done uneaten in attempts to starve himself to death before this happened.

 

He was still in much better condition than Akihito though, his skin was mostly unmarred, he had no cuts, minimal bruising, compared to Akihito’s body he looked the picture of health, and for that it had Asami biting back a snarl of his own. This person was the cause of Akihito’s condition, and his blood lust was added to the air.

 

Johannes was then unceremoniously strapped to a chair that had been brought out for this very reason, his head hung low against his chest in resignation, and Asami couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going to happen next.

 

He’d seen Akihito in action, read about his exploits, stood with him in that questioning room in Vladikavkaz when the blonde was in a crazed state, he couldn’t picture there being another level beyond that.

 

Everyone on the green stared at Akihito, who was glaring down at Johannes with a look torn between ending it quickly for the sake of his former friend, or making him suffer for as long as possible for his friends that had died.

 

At the start of the week, Johannes was part of the family, but now he was the reason many family members were dead.

 

There were people standing in this crowd who’d lost sons, brothers and cousins in Syria, and if looks could kill; Johannes would have been dead in an instant.

 

As it were though; Asami could only stand back and observe, quelling that angry fire inside him as Akihito’s jaw clenched, and unclenched, the process repeated until he too, got a hold of himself.

 

“Look at me, Johannes.” Akihito drawled, slow and deliberate, malevolent hatred rolled off his tongue.

“Look. At. Me.” He annunciated when his words were ignored.

Each crisp syllable brought the traitor’s gaze up to meet the crowd and Akihito, his eyes were hollow, the face of a man that knew what was going to happen next.

“Did you know it wasn’t Amir who was really behind the ambush?” Akihito spat the question, his feet firm and his stance commanding as he kept on, “Did you know who really was, Johannes?” his voice turned from a sneer to a growl, and his eyes were manic when he got to the final question, “Did you know it was James fucking Cashmore that you were going to have us all killed for!?”

The Russian second in command was roaring at this point, his voice thundered across the gathering and cloaked them all in its madness.

James Cashmore’s name appeared to be the cause of the blood draining even further from Johannes face as terror and shock painted his features; it was obvious he had no idea of the American’s involvement. Whether he knew or not wouldn’t change his fate.

 

 

“Gag him, Axel.” Akihito ordered before the man could speak, his voice back to the controlled drawl now, “He doesn’t deserve the right to speak.”

The order was followed within seconds, the strip of fabric tied tight all the way around Johannes’s head and in between his teeth so that he could breathe through the cloth.

 

When it was done, Asami watched curiously as Akihito’s good arm brought his hand up into his suit pocket to pull out a switchblade he was known for carrying, it flicked open with a resounding snap, and the clean blade gleaned under the Moscow sun, reflecting the animosity in its wielders eyes.

 

“I don’t know what you were offered.” The blonde stepped forward, and the tip of the knife hovered above the doomed man’s heart. “Nor do I want to know what my best friends died for. You ate at my table, Johannes, laughed at the same jokes, faced the same dangers and shared in the same riches, and yet you still broke the only rule I ever set for you, for anyone, for myself and even for my brother. The only rule that applies to this entire organization.”

Ghostly silence reined as the severity of Akihito’s speech sunk in, formal and free of the usual curses that littered his vocabulary.

“Do you know what that rule is?” his eyes were on Johannes in front of him, but the question was meant for everyone.

The man in the chair nodded, his eyes clenched shut as hopelessness overwhelmed him.

“I don’t think you do, Johannes. Because you were willing to put your blood before someone else’s, and that’s not how it works. But let this serve as your last reminder for the only rule that should never be broken, so that even in the afterlife you wont forget; Blood Above All.”

The chilling words settled into Asami’s bones as the real meaning of that family motto became known to him; everyone else’s blood before yours, everyone else’s life before yours.

Blood before money, blood before power, blood before freedom.

Every single man in this glade was willing to die for the person next to him, an overlapping circle that went around and around, forming the thick armor of the Russian Mafia.

Armor that would crumble when the first man decided his life trumped anyone else’s.

 

Akihito made a miniscule cut with a flick of his wrist above Johannes heart, a solitary drop of blood welled up, before it traveled down the traitor’s chest.

Only when the hazel-eyed blonde passed the blade to Axel to repeat the process in another spot, who then handed the knife to another man from Akihito’s party, did Asami realize the finality of that saying.

 

Blood Above All.

 

Every man in this clearing would make a small cut, spilling drop after drop, the blade would continue to be passed to the next man until the man in the chair repaid the blood of those that was lost with his own.

 

 

Mikhail and Akihito were right; what was happening in this field was enough to remind everyone of the one rule that should always be followed.

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

For a healthy 23-year-old, Akihito felt fucking ancient, he hurt all the way down to his soul, his rubs ached, his hip fucking _creaked,_ and his brain was moments away from calling it quits.

 

Akihito would count today as being the third worst day of his life, the first being the day his parents died, the second being the day Vlad and Kristof died not one week ago, and the third being today.

 

That piece of shit Johannes had taken what felt like hours to bleed out, but the day was finally done, and Akihito was finally sprawled across his bed face down in exhaustion.

 

The sooner he went to sleep, the sooner this day would be over, but sleep was a fickle bitch, and with the amount of pain he was in, outside, and inside, he knew that sleep would only mock him with brief visits for weeks to come.

 

That only served to piss him off more, and continue to make this day increasingly more shit, he needed to recover, fast, he needed to get better, faster, stronger, meaner, harder-

 

“Hey, you better not be sleeping yet.” Asami’s inquisitive tone cut off the negative whirlpool in his head that was threatening to suck him in.

“Sleep, yeah right.” He mumbled into the bed sheets.

“Akihito.” The bed dipped under Asami’s weight as the man spoke in a tone softer than what Akihito was used to. _Ugh, he better not start with that soft shit, not now._

“What?” Akihito turned his head to the side and snapped.

The larger man set himself up against the headboard, and looked down at the prone figure glaring at him with a raised brow, “That’s not a very nice way to talk to someone who comes bearing gifts, Akihito.”

“I don’t need no fucking gifts, I need drugs and sleep.” Akihito deadpanned, too tired to move.

Gold eyes twinkled in amusement, but the man didn’t say anything.

“Fuck it, help me up then, since you’re going to keep smiling like a goddam dolt.” The blonde finally caved, and a small brown paper bag was placed in his lap once Asami helped him settle against the headboard.

“A book?” he asked as he felt the solid object shift in the bag.

“Have a look.” Asami encouraged.

Curious, the Russian upended the bag onto his lap, scrunched up the paper and threw it to the corner of the room without care before he finally picked up the black and yellow hardback.

An honest to fucking goodness smile took over his face as he read the front cover:

_“Knitting for Dummies”_

 


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys spend some time together before the big show down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains drug use.

 

 

*****

 

 

Akihito looked down at the book in disbelief, that bastard had a good fucking sense of humor after all.

“I think this is the single best gift anyone has ever given me.” Akihito said in mock seriousness, and then promptly burst into laughter, it was such a foreign feeling; laughing, he couldn’t help but feel guilty for it until a deep rumble echoed next to him, and they both shared in the temporary respite before Akihito had to drop the book in favor of clutching at his ribs in pain.

The blonde hissed through it as he tried to take normal breaths, thankful that Asami didn’t have the nerve to hover over him. He merely waited with patient eyes until Akihito regained himself.

“I can help with the drugs part, also.” Asami smirked at him then, leaving the Russian curious as he sat on the bed and watched Asami get up and rustle through his things that had been brought to his room earlier in the day.

That’s when it’d hit home for Akihito – when he saw Asami fucking Ryuichi’s stuff in his rooms, and said man would be staying in his rooms for the rest of the week, as his boyfriend, and Mikhail _knew_. Add to that - that his boyfriend was helping him in the biggest vendetta known in the underworld, and it was almost fucking romantic, blugh.

He wasn’t ready for that, yet. Not when everything still had a chance of going to hell in a hand basket, as if it already hadn’t anyway. He’d take everything one day at a time and just hope like hell his prickly heart could keep up.

 

But once again though, the destructive cacophony of sentiments was interrupted as the bed dipped next to him, and the warm figure of Asami was sitting back at his side against the headboard with his jacket discarded and his sleeves rolled half up his forearms. Even in his gloomy state he could appreciate the disgustingly attractive, god like form of Asami.

“Ladies first.” Asami taunted as he offered what he’d been looking for in Akihito’s direction.

“Ha, fuck you, grandpa.” Was his first reaction before he looked down to Asami’s hand, “Wait, what?!” was his next reaction as his eyes locked on the fat joint in between the man’s fingers.

“You said you needed pain relief and sleep, which I figured, so I got an ounce from your brother.” Came the deadpan reply as he sparked the lighter. “It will help you relax, too.”

“But… You’re going to smoke weed with me?” Akihito asked, his tone flat. It was nothing new to him; drugs that was. Drugs with stoic Mr in control on the other hand.

He didn’t think Asami would be into testing his own product, mind you; cannabis wasn’t exactly an A class narcotic.

“It has its uses.” Was all the man said before putting the flame to the joint in his mouth and lighting up.

 

******

 

The Russian had to hand it to Asami, his boyfriend; with a few tokes down and a nice haze filling the air of his room, he started to feel a lot better all over, his mind lighter, his body weightless and yeah; he felt A-fucking-okay actually, considering.

The moment he tried to focus on one thing in particular, the loss of his friends, disposing of another, the 12 weeks to come, his mind would flit out and be onto the next random thought, it didn’t leave much room for brooding.

It was temporary, but holy shit balls did he need it, with his high he felt the sting of his own failure significantly less.

Ah, he could kiss that handsome faced piece of shit for this actually. Wait, he _really_ could.

Because Asami was his boyfriend and Mikhail knew and no one was currently storming his room and pointing guns or shouting at them.

“Fufu, what’s that smile for, mm?” the golden gazed motherfucker smirked at him.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he bit back.

Jesus. Mikhail must have given Asami something fucking resinous because he was going to break into a giggly mess any moment now and he couldn’t remember the last time that happened. Not that he could bring himself to care.

“The smile is enough for now.” Asami teased him with the cheesy remark.

“Fahaha! Oh fuck, bring me a bucket, I am going to barf.” He barked out.

All Asami did was stare at him with a self satisfied glean in his eye, because obviously his plan to cheer Akihito up even momentarily had worked, and yeah maybe Akihito was easily manipulated this time, but he didn’t think Asami would ever care enough to try, actually.

They hadn’t spoken much about actual feelings and shit, after all, Akihito didn’t even _know_ how to talk about the feelings he was feeling. Fuck.

Now probably wasn’t a good time to start, anyway.

“Akihito.”

Oh, damn. Sounded like Asami had other ideas, the call of his name; soft and gentle from the crime lord next to him said it all.

He was still looking at him, those perfect sculpted brows pursed with a tinge of intensity as Asami turned his body to regard him better.

No, he couldn’t do this now. Not when everything could still go wrong, and he could lose more, and even Asami could fucking _die_ in the next 12 weeks _._

He couldn’t build something up further with the wrecking ball hovering right over his head. Where had his buzz gone?

“Akihito.” And, here it comes. “… I’m hungry.” Came the matter of fact statement.

“Hah?” was all he managed to get out.

“I’m hungry.”

“You… You’ve got the munchies?” the blonde deadpanned, let down but not- all at the same time.

“Mmm.” Asami murmured as he smiled, a genuine fucking _smile_ , and Akihito knew then; that even with out talking, even while he was high as a kite, even with the most fucked up situation hovering over his head, that that goddam smile with those straight, white teeth and sinfully talented lips had sealed his fate. Dammit.

All of that raced through his head in the split second before he lost it, curling over on his side, and clutching at his stomach not because of pain now, but because of his own laughter that was making him breathless.

Next to him against the headboard, the Japanese sat looking down at Akihito as if offended, because apparently his hunger was a serious matter and it wasn’t very funny at all. Though the wicked sparkle in his eye, and the curl of his lip made the show false, and in the end; the bed shook as the big man gave up the pretense and laughed as well.

 

He had to stop himself from thinking about how _nice_ this all was, how domestic, getting high with the boyfriend in his room like some normal young man would – fuck normal though- there were armed men patrolling the property, there was a dull ache in his body from an I.E-fucking-D bomb blowing underneath his vehicle, and their last names were Arbatov and Asami, and that made it more than exciting enough for him for it not to be considered normal.

 

Apparently, Asami thought the same, and apparently he got extra sappy when under the influence of the green man, because he was swept up in those _gently_ thick muscly arms as they laughed, and Akihito was too breathless to struggle against the romance of it all because he felt fucking rejuvenated, damn, this was some good weed.

“Argh, stop or I’ll knit a scarf out of _your_ innards instead!” he managed to breathe out.

“Oh, it would be a sweet gift, I’d wear it with pride.” Asami crooned with sarcasm, his eyes feral and his teeth bared. Doomed. Motherfucking _doomed_.

“I bet you’d get your goddam rocks off if I strangled you with it, wouldn’t ya?” Akihito fake snarled as he started non-struggling against the cuddle, until Asami stilled with his lips pursed, his face thinking.

“You actually would.” He found himself deadpanning again, motionless now too.

“Try it and see.” And the piece of shit had the audacity to wink at him!

 

Giving up all hope as he found all his defensive sarcasm sucked from his body, Akihito simply went limp, flopped half on the mattress and half on Asami’s lap with a sigh. Actions spoke louder than words it seemed, and their feelings were going to develop whether Akihito bloody well liked it or not.

“I’ll see if the cooks have anything good in the kitchen.” He changed the subject instead.

“Mmm, let’s go then.” Asami hummed as he got up, then helped Akihito up, the pain was dulled, however his hip was still stiff as an ancient artifact, which made walking a chore, he wouldn’t let that stop him though.

 

He led Asami to the kitchens like men on a mission, trying to keep quiet because it was in fact late, and even though inebriated; he had sense enough not to let subordinates see him like this after the day they’d had, the fact he’d gotten high with Asami showed just how much trust he put in the man, and vice versa.

 

After a few hallways they found themselves in an empty kitchen, the estate staff had all retired for the night, and that left the two of them in the massive 5 star style kitchen, complete with its marble bench tops and tiled floors, stainless steel appliances and sparkling cookware.

That was where the paid housekeepers prepared all the men’s sustenance, they kept it immaculate and spotless, which is why there was a second, small galley style kitchen with an island bench in the middle for the men for times such as these, when they wanted to cook something of their own, or make a big mess and not get in the way, it was like; a normal kitchen a normal house would have, Akihito supposed, except this one had mostly liquor in it, like what Asami’s did when he woke up that morning he’d stayed.

 

This didn’t deter the man at all, who now stood calmly looking at the contents of a double-doored fridge as if he had a very important choice to make.

Even though Akihito was a little more affected from the drugs than he’d like to admit, Asami was pretty much his usual self, only a little less guarded, more casual, but still dangerous, and overwhelming in his presence.

And so Akihito stared at Asami while Asami stared at the fridge, at ease in the environment of the kitchen.

 

They decided on eggs, grabbing the cardboard container from the fridge and getting to work on making an omelet when Mikhail tapped on the doorframe with a “Yoo-hoo.” from behind them.

“Oi, oi, oi.” The Mafioso chided as he walked in, a hint of a smile on his face. “Don’t get high and fry, Akihito. I raised you better than that!” he pushed in between the two at the bench, halting the food preparation with his nosy meandering.

“If you aren’t going to help cook, then get out.” Akihito said, distracted by hunger as he grabbed a bowl from the cupboard under the bench.

On the other side of Mikhail; Asami chuckled at his snark, or maybe at his immaturity.

This was like; having your boyfriend or girlfriend over as a teen, and Mikhail was like the nosy parent who liked to poke their nose in at the worst times. The family dinners were always agonizing as well.

“Just sit down you muppet, you’d fucking poison Asami with your cooking and we need him still, you can kill him after this is all said and done, haha.” Mikhail shoved his younger brother with a shoulder, and simply waved Asami away to take up the task of cooking.

“Your cooking isn’t much better…” Akihito warned.

“Fuck yes it is, do I need to remind you about the time when we were camping in the Swiss Alps and you managed to near kill us with fucking potatoes. _Potatoes, Akihito.”_

“Oh my god, shut up about that will you!? It’s been years, let it go!” Akihito slammed his hands down on the marble bench with a slap as he sat on a bar stool, next the fucking baby photos would come out.

Next to him, Asami sat with a too fucking smug look on his face watching them bicker.

“Asami, you should hear about the time him and Axel dared each other to down this hot curry in India-”

“Mickey, no. Just stop!” Akihito groaned into his hands as he tried best to fight back laughter, it was funny looking back on it now, especially given his drugged up state, at the time though… Mikhail didn’t have any right to tell Asami, or anyone for that matter about what really happened, because what happened in India; stayed in India.

“Well, you wanted to have a boyfriend, and someone has to fulfill the role of antagonizing parent and you’re shit out of luck son, because you’ve got me to do that.” Mikhail near cackled as he whisked the eggs, a nasty glean in his eye that told Akihito to be on guard for anything and everything.

“We aren’t having this talk again, Mickey.” Akihito flat toned as he glared at his brother’s back at the stovetop, his hunger making him testy.

“Doesn’t matter, Asami has already invited himself around for dinner once this is done.” and then _they both_ fucking chuckled while Akihito sat flabbergasted, so the youngest in the room decided it was better for them to go back to pointing guns at each other instead, because Asami and Mikhail ganging up on him would never be fun.

 

 

*****

 

 

The next morning; Akihito woke up to reality after sleeping off his cannabis induced respite. That was, sore from head to toe, inside and out, with a hole in his heart and scratches on his soul, the pain was that instant morning reminder of the things he'd lost, some of his best fucking friends, Vlad, Kristof and many more.

With it, once again he had the urge to bury himself in maps and strategies, anything to find reason to his rhyme.

 

That was until Asami snapped him out of it, shoving a morning coffee in his face from the bedside; it looked like he'd been up for some time; his watchful eyes scanning his color changing bruises for any significant differences. He didn’t ask questions; no ‘are you oks?’ or ‘do you need help?’ and he was grateful for it, because he couldn’t answer those questions yet.

 

He wondered how long it would be until he felt a little less like the walking dead in the mornings, and more like the person he was a week ago.

 

The week sunk into a routine after that, the first night was the best he slept, but each subsequent night was full of restlessness and dark dreams, he refused anything that would alter his mindset again, the bitterness was its own form of motivation, he swallowed it without hesitation, because it _was_ reality, the reality of working in organised crime. The only way he could make his own reality better and ensure it wouldn’t happen again was to work harder, be stronger and dwell on mistakes less. Though the last part was harder fucking done than said.

 

And so, they would go to bed together after Asami helped him shower, along with an earth shattering blowjob to help send him off to sleep.

Akihito saw their doctor again the day after the first night Asami stayed with him, to get the verdict on his ribs; which weren’t cracked, only severely bruised, which meant his recovery would be faster. That was one plus on the negative list.

The day after that; was the burial of the dead in the Arbatov family cemetery, it rained the entire time, and everyone was given the day off, it was the quietest the mansion had ever been, and Akihito didn’t want to hear it that way ever again, the mournful silence as the rain pattered against the windows of his rooms was deafening, but still Asami never pushed him to open up, Axel never blamed him, and Mikhail never told him that he failed, and so it wasn’t as hard as it could have been.

 

Over the week, they all sat and smoothed out the plan, dead set on vengeance, the men that’d flown in from places around their empire coordinated with them, each sending their best men to South America from their respective locations, when they arrived in South America; they would infiltrate the U.S in increments as to not raise suspicion with Cashmore about large amounts of dangerous looking men entering his territory, gradually building up the amount of men they would have there over the 12 weeks.

Mikhail, Yuri, Akihito and their top men would be the last to arrive to complete that part of the plan.

It was a risk, because if the men they’d sent got found out, not only would they all be killed, but their plan would be a bust, and Cashmore would be onto them. They all waited patiently until they received word that the first lot of men had arrived in the U.S successfully.

 

Feilong sent in his best team of assassins as well; to scope out Cashmore’s properties and his schedule, his team would infiltrate security and gain access so that when the time came, all properties could be put on lockdown and prevent any retaliation when they eventually got their hands on James Cashmore.

 

Lastly, using the rumours of the Russians sudden exit from Japan and fueling the image of discord between them and Asami; Asami had Kirishima begin researching viable business deals he could ‘arrange’ with Cashmore that would solidify the plan. The Japanese organization was to make a proposal and meet with him so that Mikhail, Yuri and Akihito could pretend to be part of the security detail, this would ensure the Arbatov’s could get close, and Akihito was fucking itching for it, he could sense the same from everyone around him.

 

Other than meetings, burials and health check ups, Akihito gave himself over to the doctors prescribed rest, doing his paperwork in the comfort of his lounge with Axel as usual, and Siegfried; who’d been promoted in place of Vlad and Kristof.

 

In essence, this was probably what they called the calm before the storm, everyone revelled in the feeling, 12 weeks out; and everyone was already gearing up for it, it felt impossible to lose, because losing wasn’t an option.

 

 

*****

 

 

It was the night before Asami and his men were due to leave, and everyone had retired early for the night to their own rooms.

Fresh from a shower, the pair were lounging on the couch watching Quentin Tarantino movies, because the more blood and gore the better, apparently. They found a few similarities in each other over the last week, some funny, some creepy, only because having favorite torture methods in common wasn’t exactly that normal.

 

Akihito would be a big fat fucking dirty liar with his pants on fire if he said he wasn’t comfortable right now though. Asami’s chest was a great place to rest on top of.

He was broad, and the expanse of muscle cradled Akihito’s back perfectly, the steady warm breath tinted with tobacco and whiskey on his neck was soothing too.

He wasn’t really focused on the movie anyway, he’d seen Kill Bill so many times, he felt like a damn sap, because rather than looking at the TV screen, was was looking at the muscular forearms crossed over his chest at the wrists.

They’d grown close rapidly over the week, it was fucking terrifying, but it might have been one of the best rides of his life as well if he was honest; a welcome distraction from everything else.

 

Akihito was pretty sure he’d seen sides of Asami that no one else ever had. The man could be wicked, murderous and unreadable, but in the privacy of their quarters, he could be gentle, playful and human.

Not only that, but he’d given so much without anything in return, they shared kisses, they made out, Asami sucked him off with hunger, but never any further than that, a silent understanding that Akihito still wasn’t in any condition for the mindless fuck they both wanted, Asami’s self control was monumental.

“What are you thinking?” Asami’s smooth voice rumbled in his ear, he wasn’t watching the movie either.

Going off that saying; actions spoke louder than words, Akihito craned his neck up, his lips meeting Asami’s throat with a sharp nibble.

The rise and fall of Asami’s chest stopped, so he kept sucking and biting at that one spot on his jugular, feeling the hardness in Asami’s pants press against the small of his back at the same time with satisfaction.

“That’s what you were thinking, mm?” Asami said after a while, his breath rasped and hot in his ear.

Akihito really couldn’t be assed answering with words at all, so he gave an extra hard suck, making sure it would leave a mark, he might have been a little possessive, too.

Asami yanked Akihito’s head back at that, the grip stung, but the look of feral hunger, restrained and caged in those gold eyes made him shudder.

Mouths smashed together, heart rates quickened, Asami’s hands roamed over the body on top of his, slipping under the shirt to glide over hot skin, raising goosebumps and arousal.

Fuck, Akihito wanted it bad, his sweat pants were tight and uncomfortable, he squirmed against the erection pressed against his back, they both wanted it.

Though he could still feel Asami holding himself back, the touches would be firm, hungry, aggressive, and then it was like he’d realise and back off, Akihito didn’t like that one fucking bit. He wasn’t a goddam china doll.

Well, he was going to play dirty; he rolled his back against Asami and fought back a laugh at the growl against his mouth that he got in return.

“Just fuck me like this.” Akihito whispered, “I won’t break.”

There was a sigh in his ear, “If you insist.”

 

With his pants pulled just below his ass, and one rough hand tilting him to one side, Asami took his sweet time in preparing him with the other hand, those deft fingers scissored, curled and twisted until the Russian was panting into Asami’s neck, because he fucking _wanted this._

“I’m not waiting any longer.” the Japanese muttered after a time, his voice hoarse, he wanted it too, more probably.

“Do it, ah yess.” Akihito hissed as Asami’s girth pushed at his entrance as he was tilted back down, he welcomed the sting, the stretch when his back was laid flush with Asami’s chest once more.

And they moved like that; Asami rolled his hips upward while Akihito ground back down against him, it was intense in its gentleness, maddening in its closeness and fucking amazing in the pleasure of it all at the same time.

Calloused hands cupped his hips gently, pushing him down with barely restrained lust, this time was too different, there was so much _feeling,_ and for that it felt so much better, he was reaching the edge fast already.

“More, Asami.” he breathed, careless of any pain as Asami rolled up faster, deeper, filling him more than he’d ever been.

The panting in his ear, the breathy groans coming from Asami made it so _real,_ they were both feeling, needing this, both unraveling. It was fucking electrifying.

“Come for me, Akihito.” and it sounded like Asami was _asking,_ not telling and holy shit he couldn’t help the shameless way his legs quivered when Asami’s hand moved it to stroke his dick, one hand on his hip, the other pumped him with long deliberate pulls and he was coming with a final deep roll of Asami’s groin.

“Fffuck, yes! Ah.” utterly lost; he threw his head back and buried his face in the crook of Asami’s neck as he fucking moaned like a bitch, he felt Asami let it go inside him with a husky groan to fill him even more.

He didn’t even have time to catch his breath, didn’t have time to think, or feel, because Asami caught the back of his neck in his clean hand, coaxed his head back and was kissing him once more.

It was deep in more ways than one, endearing and meaningful and everything that signalled something significant, the gentle swipe of his tongue, the protective hand cradling his head, that soft hand on his hip rubbing soothing circles with a thumb that knew cold steel all too well.

Oh fuck, he’d fucking tripped and fallen hard right into an inescapable abyss, maybe the tragic situation brought them closer, but it was too late for that now, he’d never been a victim to his own feelings as much as this before.

“Akihito-”  
“Don’t… say anything, Asami.” he cut off words that could potentially be damning to them both, “say what you have to say in 12 weeks.”

“Oh?” and that trademark smirk was back, dammit, “you thought you were going to get a confession or something, hm? No, you’re the only one who’s done any of that remember.”

“H-hey! I said once that you were alright, there was no confession so don’t fucking get ahead of yourself.” this guy! He tried to get up in protest, but was held firm against Asami’s muscled body, dick up his ass still and all. Ugh, talk about being made vulnerable.

“Fufu, you’re so cute when you’re flustered.” he found himself jostled up and down as a chuckle echoed through the man’s body.

“Oh fuck no, you did not just call me cute.”

“What are you going to do if I did?” oh goddammit, he was in one of these moods again, a playful Asami was a frustratingly cheeky Asami.

“Ack, I give up!” and he did, he relaxed again and let Asami take his full weight, chasing away the thoughts in his mind at how right it was to be right here, right now.

Below him; a content sigh mirrored his thoughts, and once again actions spoke louder than words and said more than enough for the two of them.

 

*****

 

Asami once more found himself sitting in the bed side chair in the room he shared with Akihito, watching the steady rise and fall of Akihito’s chest as the blonde slept, a lit Dunhill accompanying his thoughts.

He’d watched him for any early signs of PTSD the entire week, if Mikhail was affected by it, there was a likelihood Akihito could be too. Every now and then Asami saw him space out, shake his head and try to move on. He was strong. The mornings were the worst though, as Asami had predicted. On more than one occasion he’d woken early enough to see Akihito’s distressed sleeping face, tossing and turning with a cold sweat on his brow. Akihito would have to go through that by himself after tonight.

 

Tonight was his last night here, and tomorrow; he would go back to Tokyo.

Contact between them would be kept to a minimum, seeing each other would only put everything in jeopardy, if the image of them together got out; Cashmore would be into them in a heartbeat, and then there was nothing to stop the American retaliating in full fury, because once James Cashmore felt he’d been slighted, that was it, he tried until you were dead. Which is what’d happened 16 years ago with Akihito’s parents.

 

So it would be 12 weeks until they saw each other again, and after just one week spent near constant in each other’s company; he had to admit to himself that 12 weeks without Akihito at all seemed a long time.

He tried to boil it down to his businessman mentality of when he wanted something he took it with two hands and didn’t let go, but it was different this time. Oh, yes, he wanted, he desperately wanted, but in order to have it; he had to let go momentarily, and it went against every instinctual fibre of his being to do just that.

 

Not because he was selfish or spoilt, but because the company was good, the conversation intelligent and the constant banter between them rejuvenating, Asami Ryuichi had to admit it; without Akihito for 12 weeks he was going to be bored.

 

At least he had one main objective to occupy him; and that was to set up the meeting with Cashmore in the man’s own territory, he was loathe to pretend the fallout with the Russians was real after the week spent in Moscow, but he was the only person that could do it.

 

He knew there was no going back now, you couldn’t walk away from a family like the Arbatov’s without serious repercussions, but being welcomed into the family had repercussions of its own. Being welcomed into Akihito’s innermost quarters on the other hand; had affected him much more than he’d anticipated.

 

Once where his desire for pleasure would have led him to aggressive fucking; his want for Akihito’s health and wellbeing had simply shut everything else down. He was alarmed at his own gentleness, surprised at how his keen instincts which prioritised self-preservation had expanded to include someone else. Asami had accepted it all, he could lie to others, but to lie to himself was to betray himself.

He could see Akihito struggling though, his mind torn between defiance or acceptance, it would have been cute under any other circumstance.

Nevertheless, they both knew their fates had been sealed with the next 12 weeks, and as cliché as it sounded; tomorrow Asami wouldn’t be saying goodbye, he’d be saying see you soon. That he would make sure of.

 

 

 


	22. Chapter 22

* * *

 

 

Twelve weeks was too long, but at the same it wasn’t long enough for Akihito Arbatov.

 

There were times he’d round a corner expecting to see Vlad and Kristof down the hall waiting with Axel for a meeting, or even just to hang out, and it always took his mind a few seconds to really catch up, and every time it hit him full force in the fucking face, the fact that people he’d known his entire life weren’t going to be around that corner any more.

 

Combined with the fact he was gearing up to fight one of the biggest demons of his family’s history, some days it felt like he was walking a slope with heavy ass chains dragging him backwards into torment.

 

But with some fucked up conversion process in his head, he managed to turn it into fuel, a rich source of primal fueled urges that got him up in the morning and had him feeling a vicious ambition like he’d never felt before.

 

It was the sort of drive that put a snarl on his lip whenever he thought about it, it put weight in his step and it yanked those invisible chains no matter how fucking burdensome, there was hunger in his soul now, a sense of duty he’d only really just uncovered inside of him.

 

It was one thing to be in the Russian Mafia, and then it was an entirely different thing to lead it, and to have that Russian Mafia depend on _you_ instead _._

 

Akihito had come into his own when he finally had that epiphany. Pity it’d taken losing some of his best pals for that to happen.

 

And so he focused on getting better, he recovered well with physical therapy, he still had to me mindful of his shoulder, but once he got the all clear Akihito found a new way to entertain his new found sense of self.

 

He sunk into that feral person that came out every now and then, and let it all out at in the fitness section of the mansion.

 

He honed his Russian Sambo, something that’d been drilled into him since he was a wee tot, he sparred with Axel, or anyone that would fight him until he couldn’t breathe, or stand. Whichever came first.

 

He’d swim in the indoor pool until his lungs felt like they were bursting, lift weights until his muscles burnt and his limbs shook with the effort. His instincts and combat skills had always been proficient for someone of his role, but now, he felt the intense desire for his skills and his body to reflect the person he was inside.

 

It wasn’t just a gun that was his only weapon after all. His mind was just as sharp, his fists just as destructive.

 

So he’d exhaust himself, focus on that point in his mind that was 12 weeks away and fight it until he fell into bed at night and had a semblance of a good sleep.

 

Then, he’d get his shit done and do it all the next day.

 

The plans were falling into place, he’d sent a few discrete messages to Asami, which was another reason time ticked by so slowly, it made him feel so fucking uncomfortable, every time he thought about his Japanese _boyfriend._

It was foreign, he felt like something wrong was lodged in his soul, as if something was out if place and he couldn’t put his finger on it, because nothing really was out of place at all, only the fact that he missed that handsome bastard in a way that churned his stomach. It was irrational, he knew he was being ridiculous, but fuck, it made him uneasy each time he thought about the fact that Asami wasn’t around.

 

Yeah, maybe the 12 weeks had dragged at the time, but now he was waiting quietly in a storage unit in the state of California for some of Asami’s men to pick him, Mikhail, Yuri and Axel up, and blend them into part of the Japanese security detail before Asami’s meet up with Cashmore.

 

Two sharp raps on the metal door yanked his mind back to the present, there wasn’t any time to think about it now. This was happening, and there was no going back.

 

Suddenly, 12 weeks felt like they’d gone by in a flash, and it didn’t feel like long enough at all.

 

 

The core of the Russian Mafia all took one last look at each other with resolve in their eyes and vengeance from a grudge long held simmering in their veins, they filed out of the small unit clad in their bullet proof vests under their suit jackets, and into the waiting security van, where it would swap with an identical one that was meant to be escorting Asami’s limo to the meet up location; which was an old storage yard according to Asami’s subordinate that picked them up.

 

 _How fucking cliché._ Akihito snorted a sardonic laugh as he followed the heavyset shoulders of his brother out. Mickey was surprisingly quiet, and it was the most shit scared he’d ever been of his brother. He’d seen him do some seriously fucked up shit, he’d learnt everything he knew from him after all, but there was something about a silent Mikhail that was more terrifying than anything he’d ever experienced before.

 

As the van’s door slid shut with a heavy thump that felt way too loud, like it could give up their location even though it was just a fucking door closing, he wondered what he looked like to the others. If anything, he hoped it was at least half as ready to rumble and badass as his older brother. 

 

He looked to his best friend as the engine started up. Axel, good ol’ Axel, he’d changed too. There was no doubt that Akihito would be dead many times over if it weren’t for the behemoth next to him, but, Axel would also be dead if it weren’t for Akihito too.  
Over the 12 weeks Akihito had been trying to put his finger on what exactly had changed about his closest friend, and as he looked across to his uncle Yuri as well, he could finally place what it was.

 

Axel, he had that mean glint in his eye that all the older veterans like his uncle Yuri possessed, the ones that’d loved and lost, fought and bled, and lived with the demons in acceptance.  
Axel was the epitome of a cold-blooded Russian fighter. Yeah, Akihito was fucking blessed to have this huge bastard as his second, just feeling of having him breath the same air as him was reassuring.

 

Lastly, he looked over to his Uncle properly, who was his usual icy faced self, not hint of emotion leaked from his smooth featured face, but Akihito could see the old bugger was ready for this, probably more than anyone else in this van.

 

“Everyone clear on what’s going down?” Mikhail’s flat voice cut through the road noise of tyres on asphalt.

 

All he got in answer was curt nods and more silence.

 

It was a simple plan. Plans didn’t need to be complicated to be effective, and this is what they’d all agreed on.

 

The four of them had been the last to arrive in the country, while their select teams of men, Russians and Chinese alike, had begun the infiltration right at the very start.

 

As soon as Asami’s liaison with Cashmore started, Feilong’s assassins were to breach each known Cashmore residence and base, and make way for bigger units to storm the buildings and shut down any and all activity, cutting off chances of help being sent to Cashmore, most importantly though, the key in it all that should halt retaliation, they would be taking James Cashmore’s own family captive.

 

At the same precise moment in time, the Russians in Asami’s security vehicles, as well as the rest of Asami’s men; would make themselves known at the meet up location, and isolate Cashmore by eliminating the men on site, hopefully in time to stop communication back to Cashmore’s men to ensure the lives of those raiding the residences.

 

If the timing was only a little off, if someone managed to get word to Cashmore and let him know it was a set up, Asami would be gunned down before Akihito could even blink, and at the same time, if they failed to shut Cashmore and his men down in time and word did indeed get sent out, it would place Feilong, his men, and the rest of the Russians at a huge disadvantage and turn it into an all out bloodbath.

 

And, without hostages they had nothing to use as recompense. If the timing was off, if Asami and his men weren’t fast enough with the first draw of their weapons, if they misfired one shot… Death. That was the only sure thing in all of this.

 

Inhale. Exhale.

 

He concentrated on breathing, letting oxygen fan the flames inside him as the van took its place behind Asami’s limo on the highway, the other vehicle peeled away discretely.

 

Asami was in that car, just 20 meters ahead with Kirishima and Suoh no doubt. Tinted windows blocked any chance he had of a glimpse, though it was probably for the best. Right now, it was only a distraction, and Asami was only an accomplice. If he thought about it any other way, his actions might be compromised.

 

Inhale. Exhale.

 

To stop himself from shaking, shaking with emotions in every muscle fiber, he clasped his hands together in his lap, and kept his eyes glued to the floor. He let his body sway with each turn of the vehicle, willed himself to relax, and let a detached calm take over with each passing breath.

 

Soon. All this would be over soon.

 

Tyres crunched on gravel as the road surface changed, he heard breaths like his very own released around him, and soon enough their own van with tinted windows came to a halt.

 

His jaw cramped as he forced his neck to keep his head turned in the direction of the ground. He could hear car doors opening and closing, which meant Asami was out there now with Cashmore, probably going through pleasantries and bullshit that was called formality. If he just looked up, he would see him, but then he’d see Cashmore too.

 

He needed the time left until that door opened to prepare himself for that.

 

He looked at his watch, 5:55pm now.

 

5 minutes until it would all happen.

 

 

 

*****

 

 

“Asami sama. It’s time.” Kirishima looked through the rear view mirror back to Asami, the quiet on the ride here had been different to the quiet that usually went along with sitting in a limo. This time it was muted as concentration blocked everything out, he focused on his gun’s reassuring press against his chest under his jacket, let his chest rise and fall in steady, controlled breaths, until Suoh opened the door for him.

 

He felt the stones uneven under his shoes, and the smell of dust that was whipped up with a breeze that was gone as soon as it’d come.

 

Each texture Asami could see, and he felt the world in slow motion as he trod one foot in front of the other to meet the man he’d come help kill.

 

In the old storage yard with its yellow gravel and rusted out containers of all colors, the color that stood out the most was the aged decay on all the metal, that rust that foreshadowed the oncoming massacre.

 

Angles of light dissected the ground he walked on as the setting sun peaked through gaps in the containers, cutting across his suit as he strode forth.

 

James Cashmore stood before him and offered his hand, Asami had no choice but to defer and just take it in his steady grasp and shake. His grip was firm, but his hand was soft, the hand of someone who’d had someone else do their dirty work.  
  
He felt the need to wash his hands from such a feeling as soon as their hands fell away, Mikhail’s hands were rough and calloused, as were Asami’s own, Feilong’s too.  
Akihito’s hands were hardened, and when he’d left him 12 weeks ago there’d been stitches on them, bruises and cuts that would leave a life changing scar, but there was also a softness there that he just barely remembered.

 

“I must say, Ryuichi, I wasn’t surprised to have you contact me after your blow out with the Arbatovs’, pity it took you so long to come around.”

 

Even though the man was in his 60’s, he didn’t look a day beyond 50. Grey at his temples gave him an air of wisdom, and his perfectly fitted suit only added to his aura that demanded respect. A legend stood before him.

 

He’d been in the game much longer than Asami, or Mikhail for that matter. He was smart. Cunning. He was someone Asami would not normally reckon with, and that was saying a lot.

 

However, Mikhail and Akihito Arbatov were right there behind him, ready to come out all guns blazing like he knew only Russians could, and Liu Feilong with his team of Chinese and Russians to follow through would no doubt do their utmost to keep to their side of the plan.

 

It was much different, because he wasn’t doing it alone, and he wasn’t doing it for himself. This is what is was to be in a true team.

 

No fuss had been raised about the flawless swap in his entourage vehicle, and he only had to trust in their plan that it would keep going this way.

 

Kirishima and Suoh stood beside him, as was their rightful place, opposite him; two distinguished men who could be called the older, American versions of Kirishima and Suoh also stood beside James Cashmore.

 

They’d agreed on two men each, with one follow up vehicle incase they encountered trouble to or from the location, the men inside those vehicles were to stay put, but obviously when the clock struck 6:00pm, the agreement would be null and void.

 

12 weeks since he’d seen Akihito, or heard his voice, and the first time he would see him again would be in the middle of a gunfight, it might also be the last.

 

If there was something Asami wanted to be successful more than anything, it was this. Any other time; he would have had no problem detaching himself from the situation in order to make the right choice, or act the way that was needed, but Akihito was right there, something he’d almost yearned for, and he couldn’t even look in that direction.

 

“And I must say, Mr Cashmore, that I was surprised you agreed to meet with me so promptly, much less in a place like this.” His hand gestured to their crude, stereotypical surroundings.  
It had been to their benefit anyway, that Cashmore had chosen this place. The area was clear; their teams had been keeping an eye on it until the very last minute, even now some were still keeping watch on the unfolding scene.

 

“Not to your taste, is it?” Cashmore mused with a hint of mockery. One thing was certain even without Russian influence, Asami did not like this man.

 

“I prefer a nice place to sit with a cigarette and whiskey, personally.” He drawled back, “and maybe something nice on my lap.” _Something nice, fiery and Russian._ Was finished in his head, he wondered if Akihito was close enough to hear, and kept in a burgeoning laugh at the thought of his reaction.

 

There was no love between the two parties, the air was flat, hollow, and it felt unnatural to be there, unlike how he felt during his time in Moscow, it was obvious to all, including Cashmore.

 

“Heh, now that I can understand. You must be wondering why I asked you to meet here of all places then, you aren’t stupid after all. I’ll cut to the chase. I have new weapons that I am sure would be better used on the Asian market base, and I’d like you to distribute them. I have samples in a container here, that you can see when you agree.” The old man didn’t even have the nerve to act as if what he’d proposed was completely out of the question. He was essentially asking Asami to open up his territory.

 

“You expect me to let my consumers buy elsewhere, and reduce my profit?” he could feel his trigger finger itching. “What am I to gain from this, mm?”

 

Tension prickled his neck, any moment now.

 

“Why, my good will and trust of course, you can’t expect us to go any further if we don’t develop good relations first.” Condescension oozed from the man’s tone, and Asami only found control in the fact that he would be dead soon anyway. Not even Mikhail had the nerve to be this rude to him when it came to business.

 

James Cashmore was antagonizing him, he could see the flicker in the man’s eye, Cashmore thought he had the advantage here - he probably had men in vehicles waiting minutes away – and it was as if he was trying to put Asami under his thumb, or start another feud if the Japanese disagreed, either way, the American was looking for a reaction.

 

Asami stayed his hand, he knew it was coming.

 

Then, his watch beeped innocently in unison with his two men’s time pieces as it hit 6pm, a simple, sweet tone that didn’t match the hell that was about to be unleashed.

He heard the unmistakable click of the van door and swift roll of it being torn open on its tracks.

 

“Fool! What do your men think they-”

 

Scathing words died as riotous gunfire took its place, weapons discharged either side of him as Kirishima and Suoh drew their guns at lightening speed to dispose of Cashmore’s subordinates efficiently with shots to the head, the patter of flying blood and the ricochet of bullets through out accompanied the chaos.

 

As planned, American men emerged with shouts and weapons drawn from the vehicle in front of him, they charged out foolhardy as the strict agreement on men remaining inside the vans was broken.

  
They were shot down without mercy from men that rose from their vantage points in the area, one after another bodies fell.

 

As expected, shouts from their side came from atop the stacked containers, indicating Cashmore had more vehicles follow, and they were on their way into the compound at hearing gunfire.

 

 

Asami stayed his ground as discharging guns fired all around and the sound of approaching vehicles grew closer, his only job was to beat Cashmore in drawing his weapon, and that was the only thing that would secure his life, and the lives of everyone here.

 

As soon as Cashmore’s subordinates were disposed of; Kirishima and Suoh sunk low, and dashed towards cover and continued firing rounds as they headed outwards, towards the encroaching vehicles.

 

Search and destroy; the area was swarming with Japanese, Russian and Chinese alike.

 

A cacophony of tyres being shot out, rebounding bullets and coordinating shouts of warning and death was all he could hear, a storm was going on around him; and he was in the eye of that storm.

 

From the corners of his vision he could see flashes of blonde hair, followed by a tall black haired figure of what he knew would be Axel, roars and snarls of triumph in raucous Russian filled his ears, the sheer pride exuded from those exclamations that he didn’t even understand seeped into his bones, that was his lover fighting, roaring and winning, over coming his biggest demon and making Asami feel this exhilarating exuberance that stole his breath.

 

This was trust in the utmost as Asami waited for an enemy bullet to rip through him, trust in the fact that every man here, whether they worked for him or not; could do their job.  
Trust that Akihito, the whirlwind on the outside would _protect him._

 

No bullets came.

 

And after what felt like an infinite second in time, all opposing men besides James Cashmore were dead or dying, they couldn’t risk leaving any alive, and the element of surprise had been effective in taking them all out.

The silence after so many rounds fired was eerie, and the smell of fresh blood, other bodily fluids and burnt gunpowder hung pungent in the air.

 

Footsteps from all directions were announced with stones being trod underfoot, all back towards the center and the main objective.

 

Oh, James Cashmore was good, even though men who’d no doubt served him for a long time were killed before his very eyes, not an emotion played on his features, he didn’t look as though he had a gun aimed at his chest; a black gun with mother of pearl inlay on the grips, and scroll work engraved down the barrel – Akihito’s favorite gun that he’d given Asami.

 

“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline your offer, Mr Cashmore.” And he allowed himself a smirk as the footsteps of Russians finally crunched up to the gravel around them.

 

The leader of the American force simple shrugged as if mildly inconvenienced, and dropped his hand - that was half way to reaching for his own weapon - back to his side.

 

Oh, he was good alright, Asami had no doubt he would have a bullet between his eyes if it were him that wasn’t fast enough.

 

“Such a shame, Ryuichi, we could have had a beautiful relationship.” Even now the man was still testing him, prodding for a reaction from everyone there, by pointedly snubbing the Russian arrivals and patronizing the Japanese contingent also.

 

His confidence was almost overwhelming, and he would have believed in said confidence if it weren’t for one more factor.

 

When it came to infiltration, assassination and efficient killing, no one was better than Liu Feilong and his men, so if it was him overseeing the other half of their plan then success was a given.

 

“As you can see, I’m already taken.” Asami drawled with dry humor, his weapon was still at the ready as Kirishima and Suoh took the man’s guns, the situation would remain precarious until they received word from Feilong.

 

He could _feel_ the animosity encroaching from the Russians, and he still hadn’t even looked at them yet.

 

“What a nice little get together we have here!” Mikhail Arbatov finally piped up with a sneer, “Don’t mind us.”

 

And then all eyes were on the blood speckled Russians, who stood off to the side in imposing unity. Mikhail stood at the fore with Akihito at one shoulder and Yuri on the other, behind them all, Axel skulked around, on high alert with a battle rifle at the ready.

 

“Oh, apologies young man, I didn’t see you there.” Cashmore taunted.

 

But Asami could hardly concentrate on any conversation, he still registered the words, however all he could really see was Akihito Arbatov.

 

“And here I thought the guns going off would have given us away, damn.” Mikhail countered, he sounded bored.

 

Akihito Arbatov with the black Colt 911 that Asami had given him in on one hand, and a malicious looking hunting knife with drying blood on it, in the other.

 

If it weren’t for his smaller stature, Asami would have had a hard time telling the siblings apart at that moment, their cold expressions, ravenous for blood and chaos were identical, their jaws firm with calm conviction, while their eyes – despite the setting sun- gleaned with a wild light of their own.

 

“You want my attention that much, huh boy?”

 

He’d said once that Mikhail was a formidable man, strong, deviously smart, and fearless, and in the space of 12 weeks; his little brother Akihito had grown up to be exactly the same.

 

“So much so I had to come here and get it.”

 

The smaller Russian had the same presence now, as if he knew what was expected of him and was now capable of carrying that weight, he was thicker in the chest, a little wider in the shoulder, stronger in his stance.

 

Awe and reverence struck him like the bullet that never came.

 

How could someone change so much in that time? What had he gone through in those 12 weeks while they were apart? He wanted Akihito to share it all with him, and all he could hope was that the essence of Akihito was unchanged as well.

 

That wasn’t something he could tell yet, because Akihito had yet to look at him, his eyes were trained on Cashmore only, as to be expected.

 

“Well done, I’m sure Dmitri and Yelena would be proud of such an accomplishment.” James Cashmore finally sneered as his hatred seeped through.

 

“You watch your fucking mouth,” Akihito intoned at the mention of his parent’s names. Beside him, jaws clenched, and hands tightened on weapons.  
All Asami needed to do was add a little more pressure to the trigger under his finger and Cashmore would be dead, he could feel the cold steel under his skin, beckoning him, but it should be an Arbatov to finish him off, so he stayed his weapon.

 

“Akihito is it? I don’t believe we’ve met, though you’re looking well, I heard you had an accident recently.” The American challenged equally cold. “And Yuri too! You’ve aged. What’s it been, 16 years since I’ve seen you, we should have got together sooner. Last time was a blast, wasn’t it?”

 

The oldest Russian simply looked down at the American with his normal blank expression, and blinked, he truly was an unshakable force.

 

“Mickey.” Akihito said through clenched teeth, “Can I kill him yet?”

 

Asami felt himself getting fired up with Akihito’s infectious vehemence, as if they were directly linked, he supposed the fact that he was even here meant they actually were.

 

“Soon.” Was the convicted reply. “We should here from Fei’s team any moment now.”

 

As if on cue, Yuri put his fingers up to the earpiece he was wearing, and listened to an incoming message, silence took over as everyone waited for word.

 

“That was Yoh, they’re on their way with our extra guests.” The veteran reported, and a tension that Asami hadn’t known was even there lifted, both halves of the plan were going accordingly, it seemed.

 

“What are our losses?” Mikhail asked with business like control.

 

“18 of his men, 30 of ours out there, we’re counting here still.”

 

“…. Alright then.”

 

It was more than they’d originally planned on, no one liked the thought of losing any men, but with a gamble such as this it was inevitable.

 

They would pay their respects later, to every single one of them.

 

Cashmore listened in quietly the entire time, his stance relaxed, his face unworried, a poker face if Asami had ever seen one.

 

“Lucky you, old man, your sons will be joining you here for the get together shortly.” Mikhail smiled at him, a teeth baring smile that didn’t touch his eyes at all, “That’s when the real party will begin.”

 

That’s when emotion came through the American’s façade, Cashmore sneered in the Russian’s direction and spat, because he had to know where this was going now.

 

“Oh, you don’t like when someone touches your family do you?” the Russian leader said with a patronizing smile, before his face turned unsympathetic, his voice low and without emotion, “Well neither do I.”

 

“Ha! And it took you 16 years, and nearly losing the squirt over there before you had to enlist help? How much are you paying them?” Incredulous of the actual circumstances, James Cashmore tried to pry apart something that couldn’t be separated.

 

“You’re mistaken, _James”_ Asami hissed his name, “I simply despise those who try to harm people I care for. Thus, that makes you my enemy also.”

 

 _Now,_ Akihito was looking at him, his controlled expression couldn’t hide the sincerity in his eyes, and Asami had the feeling his face probably looked exactly the same, to Akihito at least. Never had he wanted to just _hug_ someone so much in his life.

 

“Who you care for?!” Cashmore questioned with a raised brow, “So you and Mikhail here-”

 

“Don’t even fucking finish that sentence or I will shoot you after I throw up in my mouth.” Said Russian cut in with his gun raised to Cashmore’s chest.

 

Behind him, Akihito’s lip curled up in distaste, however Axel and Yuri both barked an amused laugh at the ludicrous notion of Asami and Mikhail together.

 

Suoh and Kirishima were both frowning, and Asami shuddered at the thought, not because Mikhail was unattractive, but because two overwhelming people such as themselves would never mesh, the thought of it even made him feel uneasy. It would be a disaster.

 

“That is not an image I ever wanted in my head…” Akihito deadpanned, “I think I’m permanently damaged.” Axel continued his wheezing laughter in the background at his boss’s unfortunate imagination. “Oi! Shut up you fucking shit biscuit, it’s not funny!”

 

That’s when Asami knew that despite their hardened exterior, the youngest pair of them were still unchanged, the fire was most definitely still there, and so was the wilderness that he knew he could never tame, but he’d still have fun trying.

 

Despite the tensest situation any of them would ever be in, Akihito and his man Axel still found the time to insult each other.

 

“Oh? So you like them young do you, Ryuichi, that’s not far from cradle snatching, you know.” Cashmore finally caught on, and continued to push buttons with a lighthearted tone, hoping to make someone lose their cool.

 

Akihito just scowled, determined not to bite, age was a sore spot for him, and Asami knew it must grate on him for it to be brought up by the person who he despised the most.

 

“It’s no matter when the 23 year old in question has a life time worth of accomplishments under his belt, wouldn’t you think, mm?” Asami countered back with nothing but the truth, in Akihito’s case, age was definitely only a number.

 

“Oi, don’t praise him so much or it will go to his head.” Mikhail butt in with a smirk, but the pride in his voice gave it away, in this; Asami’s and Mikhail’s views were exactly the same.

 

The scowl disappeared nonetheless.

 

“That’s why you went after him, after all, right?” Mikhail went on in a analytical tone, “You wanted to take him away hoping I would finally lose it and do something rash? You’re the one who did something rash, 16 years ago, you piece of shit.”  
  
“The world wasn’t big enough for the both of us, boy. Your old man knew that and was still fool enough to take my word for truce, and he paid the price. It’s just a pity his sons grew up to be just as much of a pain as he was.” There were no antagonizing tenors in James Cashmore’s speech now, he was being honest, because that honesty was still more than riling enough.

 

Asami thought for a few moments that Cashmore would be killed right then and there, he could see every one of the Russians with tensed muscles and eyes ablaze, snarls wanting to voice themselves and revenge demanding to be quenched.

 

The air turned volatile, static, as if the wrong contact would cause an electric shock to ripple through them all and then explode.

 

Asami wasn’t exempt from feeling that explosive anger, any slight to the Arbatovs now was a slight to him, and the sight of a battered and bruised Akihito restlessly sleeping on that bed had never left his mind. James Cashmore was behind that memory, he was behind the reason Akihito lost his friends, behind the reason why Akihito had to cry in his arms, he was the reason Akihito nearly ran himself into the ground, a strong willed, full of life, charismatic person was nearly broken because of James Cashmore.

 

That was reason enough, then there was the trouble he’d put the entire family through, and he thought back to that mindless Mikhail who would have burnt the world to the ground in his fit of rage.

 

Someone who’d caused so much strife, in Asami’s books; should not be allowed to live.

 

And as if to imitate the crackles of tension, new sets of tyres seemed to hiss up through the containers, carrying the final pieces of their plan.

 

From here it would be fast.

 

Cashmore had more men in more places that they hadn’t hit, word would be out already, they needed to do what they came for and then make their way to the private air port they’d prearranged to fly out from. Back to Moscow.

 

Three ominous black panel vans came to a halt beside them all, Feilong, Yoh, and the Russians that Mikhail and Akihito had sent with them wasted no time in bringing out their detainees.

 

From each van, one person was brought out, with the typical sack over their head and cables ties binding their wrists together behind them, they weren’t treated gently, but lugged up by their bloodied shirt collars and pushed in their direction with harsh words and impatient kicks.

 

The greeting between them all was silent, eye contact made to acknowledge one other, Feilong looked the most animated Asami had ever seen him, his movements fluid with deadly grace, the people he went after wouldn’t have stood a chance. He wanted this for Mikhail and Akihito more than what Asami did, maybe.

Yoh stalked behind him, eyes watchful, he nodded to Asami to indicate everything went as planned.

 

The captives were forced unceremoniously to their knees in the midst of them all, in front of Cashmore, who well and truly knew who they were. There wasn’t anyway someone wouldn’t know their own sons even bound and faces covered.

 

“You, on your knees too.” Mikhail brandished his gun in Cashmore’s direction, “Join your family.”

 

Cashmore didn’t have a choice at this point; weaponless and surrounded by enemies, it was Yuri who took charge of the American, he circled him like a predator, and kicked the back of his knees out with a viciousness that only the stoic Russian was capable of.

 

It made complete sense to Asami; that Yuri, the person who’d lost the most to Cashmore, should be the one to have his gun trained at the base of his skull at this moment.

 

Yuri had lost his brother, sister in law, and many friends and family in the blow out 16 years ago, he was the one who had to keep Mikhail together all these years without falling apart himself, Yuri had been the backbone of the Russian Mafia for a long time after that, raising Mikhail further into the man he was, and helping Mikhail raise Akihito too.

 

More than anyone in that clearing, it was Yuri Arbatov who deserved to end it all.

 

“It took me a long time,” Mikhail mused aloud as he paced behind the three sack headed figures kneeling on the ground. “To decide what to do to you if I ever got to this point.”

 

He stopped behind the first son, and whipped the fabric off to reveal a face that was the picture of what a young Cashmore would have looked like, Matthew Cashmore, the youngest son at 21 years, with a gag in his mouth and angry eyes glaring at his surroundings. He was as strong as his father, but Asami knew Akihito was stronger still.

 

Without any further ceremony, words or even any indication as to what was going to happen next, it was Akihito who raised his gun then, and without mercy in his eyes or emotion on his face; fired a single shot to the back of the head. Matthew Cashmore hadn’t even known it was coming.

 

The body thumped forward on the stones, lifeless with pooling blood absorbing into the dust.

 

Cashmore snarled, his rage and anguish full blown as he tried to get up and fight. Yuri however, shot the backs of his knees out with ease, and merely watched as a father fell back down only inches away from the cooling body of his dead son.

 

The other veiled figures struggled in their bindings, held firm by Axel and Suoh.

 

“As much as I want to kick your fucking face in, so much that I can’t even recognize it.” Akihito stepped forward, bristling with violence as he methodically wiped the barrel of his gun in his shirt, Asami’s blood boiled with his, he could feel the unadulterated animosity; “Mickey managed to convince me this would be much better.”

 

“What did you think was gonna happen huh? That I wouldn’t take from you all that you’ve taken from me?!” Mikhail boomed as the situation; dragged out 16 long years finally reached its climax, “If your wife were still alive she’d be in this fucking line up too, Cashmore.”

 

“Don’t you mention her to me!” the American hissed as he pushed himself upright, a man such as Cashmore knew there was no point in hoping to negotiate now, all that he could keep was his pride.

 

“Could you just imagine it, _James_ , her kneeling here gagged and bound, probably crying as her sons are killed one by one in front of her, I’d force you to watch as your beloved loses her precious children, make you see her despair and suffer, and you know what I’d do then?” The goosebumps on Asami’s neck were real as Mikhail’s voice lowered to barely a whisper. “Then I’d put a bullet in between her pretty eyes too, and you’d have lost it all.”

 

“Do it, Axel, Suoh.” Akihito snapped and finished with a flick of his wrist.

 

Both coverings were whipped off the remaining two sons at the same time, Cashmore yelled, two more bullets were fired, one from Akihito and the last from Mikhail.

 

And all of the Cashmore sons were now dead, face first on the ground like the first brother before them.

 

Asami decided it was definitely the suddenness of it all - the only moments that the Cashmore’s saw of each other before parting permanently were mere split seconds of panic and chaos – that made it all the more cruel. It didn’t allow for any last words or glances, no communication other than discord.

 

Definitely cruel, Asami decided as he looked down at Cashmore, spattered in the blood of his own progeny. He couldn’t have come up with anything better, he concluded.

 

“Fuck you all.” Cashmore spat. “If you think this is the end-”

 

“This _is_ the end.” Yuri cut in, his voice calm and sure, resolute.

 

They all shared one last glance, an acknowledgement between businessmen and friends, comrades and people that trusted each other.  
He looked to Akihito, saw the severity and the tension there, waiting to be released, this would be a monumental moment in his life, and the look that Akihito returned a fleeting moment, said that the Russian was glad Asami was here with him, even if they had yet to speak.

 

Mikhail thanked him silently with his gaze, as did Yuri and Axel, Feilong gave him a wry smile, as if to say _well look at you now._

 

The look was warranted after all, six months ago Asami would have shot anyone on the spot if they’d told him he’d feel enough for someone to put everything on the line like this, to team up and place his trust in people other than himself or his men. But, like the look in Feilong’s eyes, here he was now indeed.

 

As one; they all looked back to Yuri, who was standing over Cashmore still, in silence he raised his gun, and with a final piercing explosion; he pulled the trigger.

 

There were no celebrations, no smiles and no cheers, it feel into quiet once again as they all contemplated in their own heads that this was actually over. This moment was a tribute to all that’d been lost to the man they’d just killed.

 

“We need to move out, reports are that Cashmore’s men are on the move after regrouping.” Yoh finally broke the stillness, and the odd tranquility vanished as the setting dissolved and people began to move.

 

 

******


	23. Chapter 23

It turned into a flurry of disarray as the fallen were retrieved and men filed into the limo with Kirishima at the wheel.

 

It took only moments for all vehicles to start up, and within minutes an envoy with the limo in the middle was speeding out of the storage compound, all the drivers knew the route to where they were going like the backs of their hand.

 

They’d been made to memorize it, to know how to get to their destination with their eyes shut, there was nothing they could do now but give orders to others still in different locations, and hope that all teams made it back out.

 

It was going to be a long exit, going out slowly in groups over the Mexican border the way they’d come, but it would be impossible to move such a large number other wise.

 

Underlying unease would be there until everyone made it out, but they all knew what they had to do.

 

Akihito still sat numb with Mikhail at his side and Axel on the other. Asami was in this car, he could feel those gold eyes on him, but his brain was still in overdrive, it would surely short circuit if he met that gaze now.

 

The shock of his gun going off resonated in his hand still, he could feel the reassuring weight of his knife as it hacked at men that had jumped from vehicles to charge him.

 

He could smell the blood in his hair, he could feel it pulsing in his veins, loud in his ears, feel it sticky on his hands-

 

“Akihito! You’re bleeding!” Feilong exclaimed from the other side of the limo, breaking the thoughtful silence.

 

He looked up to see startled faces regard him.

 

“Wha?”

 

“You dumbass why didn’t you say anything?” Axel snapped as he manhandled a stunned Akihito and ripped his jacket off, the overwhelming pressure he could feel from the other side of the limo bore into him, he let Axel cut into his shirt sleeve, not white but ruby red with his own blood now, and turned his gaze in the heats direction.

 

_Oh._

 

That’s when he remembered taking that bullet, he could see it clearly now, he was coming out of an alley with containers stacked high on each side; back towards the center when he spotted a man taking aim at Asami in the clearing, he hadn’t even thought then, he’d just ran. Ran as fast as his adrenaline filled legs had carried him to take the bullet.

 

He remembered yelling then as he took the bastard down, tackled him to the ground and slashed at his face as if it had been his life threatened, he felt the pull as Axel caught up and tore him away from the corpse on the ground.

 

Only now was he just registering the sting of the through and through wound to his upper arm, bleeding profusely down his skin and dripping off his fingers. That’s what Feilong had spotted.

 

It was dulled though, everything numbed now not because of the come down, but because of those eyes that were looking at him like they _knew_ what he’d done.

 

Axel fussed at his side like the worrywart he was when Akihito got hurt, Feilong moved closer too because his medical skills were the best here, from his insane ninja kit or whatever it was the man carried in his cheongsam, he produced a needle and fucking thread.

 

He felt the tightness around his arm, up under his armpit as a tourniquet was tied to stem the blood flow.

 

An exasperated sigh came from the Chinese, “I can stop the blood, it’s a clean cut wound at least, but I’m surprised you can even move it.”

 

“Just do what you can, Fei.” Mikhail said quietly, Akihito hadn’t even noticed his brother grab his other hand, he was holding on tight, squeezing like he too knew exactly what’d happened.

 

Like he knew his little brother had taken a bullet for someone else.

 

“You had better fucking look after him, Asami.” Mikhail confirmed his theory, _you had better fucking look after him after what he did for you._ Was what Mikhail had really said.

 

With every ounce of remaining strength he had, which was fading by the second; Akihito squeezed his clammy blood dried hand, the truth still was that if it were Mikhail in that clearing he would have taken the bullet a thousand times over, he would goddam die a thousand times to save his ass, and he wanted his brother to know that that would _always_ be fucking true.

 

“It’s okay, you troublesome little shit, I know. I know.”

 

Well, thank fuck for that.  
  
Maybe it was the relief that his brother understood, it might have been the raw emotion on Asami’s face as his vision faded, or the relief, his vision tunneled in on that face looking at him from across the inside of the limo, it was probably the blood loss too, and all of the above.

 

“Oi, don’t pass out! You fucking weakling!” he heard his brother shout as the blackness took over.

 

He still hadn’t said a word to Asami.

 

Damn it.

 

 

*****

 

 

Disbelief had wrought him frozen as Asami watched Feilong and Axel work together on Akihito’s arm, it wasn’t the fact that Akihito had been shot that rendered him motionless.

 

Asami _saw_ the moment Akihito recalled, saw the memory hit him as the Russian finally met his gaze.

 

With wide eyes; Akihito looked at him while the scene no doubt played in his head.

 

Forget teasing him about confessions or feelings, what Akihito was unknowingly showing him now was more than words could ever say.

 

And, so unlike him, unlike Asami Ryuichi who was capable of thinking on his feet and making snap decisions and adapting, he didn’t know what to do about it. Didn’t know how to feel about the fact that Akihito had offered up his life in his stead.

 

The feelings slowly crept up on him, Mikhail said something, he watched them clench hands, and that’s when it dawned on him.

 

Someone as loyal, steadfast and devoted to his family as Akihito, had reached out the moment he took that bullet and extended all those things towards him. He felt privileged, honored even, underneath his shock.

 

“Oi, don’t pass out! You fucking weakling!” and Mikhail’s shout snapped him from his inaction as he finally registered just how much blood was soaking Akihito’s clothing, he saw Akihito’s face turn pallid as he sunk into unconsciousness from the blood loss.

 

Irrational worry nearly overwhelmed him, and he knew how easy it was for Mikhail to be over protective now, Feilong had staunched the blood flow, they were pulling up at the small airport even as the thoughts flew through his head, there were men and medical supplies on the plane, it would all be fine.

 

Ah. He was going to have to learn to control the new set of feelings that came with Akihito, or it surely would be the death of him.

 

Because in that moment, he realized that if the roles were reversed, he would have done the exact same thing.

 

 

 

*****

 

 


	24. Chapter 24

* * *

 

Akihito stirred; he fought for consciousness inch by fucking inch, his brain sluggish in sending signals to his nerves, his body heavy. Fuck, he had anesthetics in his system - he knew this feeling.

 

But at least he knew exactly where he was. He knew his own bed. At home, in Moscow.

 

That’s when it all came rushing back to him in a torrent that almost made him want to go back to sleep.

 

It was done.

 

It was mother fucking _done._

He couldn’t even be assed trying to sift through the memories or the small details at that point.

 

“You’re awake.”

 

“Ah, what the fuck!” Akihito exclaimed in fright because he didn’t know there was _someone else in his mother fucking room._

He tried to push himself up, but his limbs were slow and that’s when he remembered he’d been shot and god dammit.

 

“Fuck!” he hissed as his arm collapsed under his weight.

 

“Still lively I see, fufu.” And it was Asami laughing at him even as he got out of the chair that sat beside his bed and helped him sit up.

 

“I think what you’re trying to say is thank you, gramps.” Akihito deadpanned without thinking-

 

The instant lighthearted mood dissipated, and he hadn’t actually meant to say that out loud!

 

“Hey, what are you - oi!” Asami had no problem manhandling this time around apparently because it was only his arm this time that was sore and not his entire body like the Syria incident that started all this.  
The person he’d been missing for 12 fucking weeks knelt on the mattress beside him, swept the smaller body up in his arms, and didn’t let go.

 

“Thank you.” Asami mumbled into the top of his head.

 

“…. Ah, sure. Anytime.” Akihito replied, suddenly shy. It was fucking embarrassing that Asami knew he would do that for him for some reason. He didn’t mind hiding in the crook of Asami’s neck to escape the man’s scrutiny over the matter, actually.

 

“Likewise.” Came the whisper back.

 

Well fuck, that was a little too much to handle right now. Asami’s contented humming soothed him though, he relaxed in the man’s embrace because that stupid non confession that was definitely still a confession sucked any will to fight right from him.

 

Like being plunged in ice water, he’d well and truly woken up, this short conversation had purged the drugs effects from his system, and the throb in his arm slowly made itself known.

 

Akihito finally, regretfully pulled away as bodily needs took over, he detangled their limbs and left Asami on the bed as he went to the bathroom.

 

He took a few moments to collect himself as he gazed at his reflection in the mirror, he looked like shit, felt like shit too actually, so he washed his face with a warm washcloth and it made him feel a little more composed, like himself and not some helpless teen who was confused about life. Argh.

 

This was so not him. Fuck this. With a final huffed breath, he opened the bathroom door and went back out to his room, to Asami who was waiting patiently on his bed still.

 

“So… what happened afterwards?”

 

He settled on the bed looking at Asami as he told him.

 

They decided it was okay to fly back to Moscow without stopping since they had fluids on the plain to give him, they couldn’t risk a stop over anywhere, so they’d made the 12 hour flight from California back home; where the family doctor had patched him up properly, and given him strong pain relief to sleep off.

 

“Everything else?” he queried.

 

“All going to plan.” Asami drawled.

 

“Thank fuck for that.” The Russian sighed in relief.

 

“Akihito.” Came the hushed call of his name.

 

“Y-yeah?”

Asami did what he did best then, instead of talking which Akihito definitely wouldn’t be able to manage at this point, he came forward on the bed toward Akihito, pushed him backwards until he was lying back down, and looked at him with a whole new sort of intensity.

 

Akihito could feel the heat of their breaths mingling, could feel the beat of Asami’s heart against his skin, each place their skin touched, their bodies, the arm that ran up his thigh – so gentle, too endearing and too fucking real.

 

“I missed you.” Asami murmured – and Akihito was enraptured in those gold eyes pining him in place, he couldn’t look away even if he wanted to.

 

Something like that – was way too forthright compared to the way they normally spoke, their banter and taunts, the underlying meaning was always there, but this time it was right there for him to see.

 

“Don’t say something so….”

 

“I missed you, Akihito.” Asami admitted again, completely ignoring Akihito, who felt sure to melt under the man’s scrutiny.

 

“Shut up and kiss me already then!” he finally snapped, because kissing someone is most definitely what you did when you missed someone like this, his heart clenched as he thought back to that uneasy feeling during the long 12 week wait, he didn’t want to feel that way ever again.

 

Fuck, fuck, fuck, he was so doomed.

 

But he didn’t mind it one bit, if he was honest. He’d already taken a bullet for the bastard, letting him take him away with a kiss was hardly as terrifying as that.

 

Asami kissed him slow, excruciatingly so, lips, a dip of his tongue, he knew the man was savoring it, and he was still so exhausted all he could do was hold on and feel.

 

He knew where this was going, his anticipation bubbled, shit, he wanted this, he’d _craved_ this for the past 12 weeks and he wanted it _now._

But Asami was being gentle, compared to their first few times of chaotic, lustful and rough, this was different, but just as senseless.

 

Somewhere in a part of his mind, he heard gasping and he supposed it must be him, he didn’t know. Asami’s hands were everywhere, his body hot and heavy on top of him, he welcomed the weight.

 

This pressure that he needed as they rolled their hips together in an urgent, dirty, dry rutting that had them both losing the ability to think.

 

It was definitely that, that made him spill all the words he wanted to kept in – the friction building him up, Asami sucking tenderly on his neck and he just let it all go.

 

“Asami…” he heard himself whine, and fuck him if Asami didn’t just become gentler at that. “Asami… Asami…” he chanted between gasps.

 

“I missed you too.” He managed to say, and Asami’s reaction stole his already failing breath.

 

A scratchy, calloused hand whispered up his skin, underneath his t-shirt - where it stopped above his heart to feel exactly how wild it was going inside his chest.

 

“Are you nervous, Akihito?” came the mumble against his jugular.

 

“Yes, no. Maybe. I don’t know anymore, fuck!” Akihito huffed out.

 

Asami didn’t laugh like he thought he would, he pulled back to trap him once again in his gaze.

 

“I will take away all your uncertainty.”

 

And he did.

 

Asami went back to his skin then, marking him all over again as clothes came off blindly, hands scrabbled against skin and holy fucking shit it was good to feel those muscles under his fingers again, to trace the lines of insane power this man commanded, he’d forgotten what a thrill it was.

 

He was fast becoming desperate to feel it all, but at the same time he wanted it to be this slow, so that it would last forever.

 

It went back to rutting, skin on skin, and the new sensation forced a whine from his throat, his nails scraped hungrily at those immense back muscles, and it only fired Asami up more.

 

Oh. He’d forgotten the man liked to be marked, too.

 

So he fucking dug his nails in as hard as he could, his injured arm burning with the effort but he didn’t care, not at all.

 

Because Asami was panting hot, heavy breaths now, just as desperate as he was and Akihito knew he needed this too.

 

“Now, Asami. Now.” Akihito begged.

 

“Lube?” Asami questioned at his temple, a low rumble that oozed restraint.

 

“B-bathroom.”

 

Asami wasn’t even gone for a minute, he heard his draws rattling as the man searched, but he pined in that short time.

 

The man still took his time, circling his fingers around his entrance in firm motions as he swallowed back Akihito’s whimpers as well.

 

“Patience, you lewd thing.” Asami chuckled, “Let me take care of you. It’s been a while.”

 

“For you maybe! Who knows what I’ve been up to.” Akihito joked, he poked his tongue out and licked up the side of Asami’s face, laughing as he did so.

 

Asami didn’t find it funny at all though, he glared childishly at him, Akihito _would_ have laughed more, but all that came out was a cry as Asami abruptly rammed two fingers in and held them there, as if actually testing.

 

“Seems pretty unused to me.” Asami drawled as he curled his fingers.

 

“Ngh…” his back arched up into Asami’s body. “Of course.. it is!”

 

“Good, no one else is ever allowed to touch you.” Came the menacing threat, “Remember that.”

 

The feeling he had when he took the bullet took over then, that desperation to get there in time, the pure, feral anger at the fact someone dared point their weapon in Asami’s direction, he knew exactly how Asami felt.

 

He craned his neck up to nip and scrape his teeth at the man’s skin, the area above his heart, “Likewise.” He repeated Asami’s earlier words to him.

 

“That’s right.”

 

Any more words fell away, in earnest Asami prepared him, kissing away his moans as he gripped onto those sculpted biceps in order to stop himself from falling away further.

 

Those magical fingers dragged along his insides, bringing stars to his vision and sweat to his body, he opened his eyes to see Asami’s brows pursed together in concentration, he was holding himself back and Akihito didn’t want him to do that at all.

 

“Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.” He urged him, “Do it now.”

 

“You aren-”

 

“Don’t care. Need you. Now.” Akihito grit out, not capable of proper sentences.

 

“Uhnn….”

 

His words obviously had the right effect; Asami wasted no time in positioning himself between his thighs. Akihito bit back his needy whimper as he felt the blunt head of Asami’s dick press against him.

 

He rolled his hips down, relished the way Asami’s breath caught in his ear as the head pushed in, already he felt the difference, the oncoming sting of being filled by something much bigger than fingers.

 

It was probably the most vanilla way they’d ever do it, typical top and bottom, but as Asami pressed in inch by inch with his eyes closed in pleasure above him, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

 

“Move, please.” Akihito heard himself plea, impatient, as Asami remained buried deep. “I can handle it.”

 

The stars came back as Asami moved, slow, so _fucking_ slow and so fucking good, oh the sting was there alright, so much so he felt tears prickle at the corners of his eyes, but it was exactly the way he wanted it.

 

He wanted this hurt that drove him to euphoria.

 

Asami kept rolling his hips in and out in long deliberate thrusts, Akihito thought the heat might consume him, thought maybe if he channeled the pleasure coursing through his veins into fisting the sheets that maybe he wouldn’t explode, but it was useless.

 

His lover built up the pace, going faster, deeper, harder in desperation as he groaned into Akihito’s ear one thrust after another.

 

“Asa..mi.” he breathed out. “I’m… gonna.. gonna…. Ahnnnn.”

 

Their world came crashing back down as Asami reached between them to finish Akihito off, he felt his entire body lose control as he threw his head back onto the pillow and came all over them both in a long, silent keen with his mouth wide open.

 

“Uh, Akihito.”

 

He felt the wet heat of Asami coming inside him, and it had him coming in a second wave of boneless pleasure, because as he looked up he saw Asami fucking Ryuichi come undone right before his very eyes, the man’s pace faltered, his jaw slack with his own uncontrolled breathing.

 

“Woah!” Akihito cried out as Asami flipped their position, he now rested on Asami’s sweat slicked chest with his own come sticking them together. He was too spaced out to give a shit.

 

His legs were still either side of Asami’s hips, and he did cringe as he knew he was probably leaking the man’s own juices on him, gross.

 

Oh fuck it, it didn’t look like Asami cared either.

 

With that thought, and his mind coming down from it’s unbelievable peak, he flopped his head down onto Asami’s chest, and let his breathing even out.

 

The steady, strong thump of Asami’s life beat under his ear, and he felt himself smile.

 

It really was done.

 

“By the way.” Asami said before had the chance to sink back into sleep. “Your brother decided it would be a good time, while I’m here to have that family dinner he invited me too.”

 

Well, no more fucking sleep now!

 

Akihito sat bolt up right, straddling Asami’s hips now, “Oh my god, no.”

 

The playful smirk he got in response was absolutely infuriating, “Why not?” Asami purred, “Don’t you want to make it official, hmm?”

 

“Asami…” Akihito warned, "I don’t think you understand what you’re getting yourself into, you really will die!”

 

Asami’s amused chuckle did not reflect Akihito’s rising panic.

 

Memories of family gatherings in the past flashed through his mind, alcohol, lots and lots of alcohol, playful fights – but with goddam _knives_ , extremely drunken target practice, flying cutlery and plates, angry intoxicated Russians who liked to sing at the tops of their lungs, and one too many guns at a table where it was everyone for themselves.

 

The thought of Asami and his two men at the table filled him with dread.

 

“I’ve got you to look after me, don’t I?” the man crooned in mockery.

 

“You…. Actually _want_ to come?” with a cock of his head he finished, “Why?”

 

“Like I said, I want to make it official.”

 

“More like you want everyone to know I belong to you.” Akihito deadpanned his sarcasm.

 

“Oh, the kid learns fast.” Came the taunt.

 

“You wanna go?!” Akihito puffed his chest out in false bravado. This was the banter he’d missed. “I’ll take you on, old man.”

 

“You’re a hundred years too early, but I’ll have fun while you try, squirt.”

 

“Get fucked!”

 

“Oho, Akihito, I do believe it’s about to be the other way around.”

 

Their bickering continued, and he forgot all about the shitty family dinner as Akihito did indeed get fucked a second time around and then fell into a thoroughly contented sleep with Asami in the bed next to him.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, thought it was about time to give this story some closure after two years, I'm not one for long Author's notes (anymore) but this story deserves something. Out of all the characterisations I have given Akihito, this is by far my favorite, this is what I want for him, this is how I wish for him to be. 
> 
> This was the story that helped me grow and develop the habits and style that I have now, I remember staying up to ungodly hours of the morning to finish chapters, looking back I see some parts that are messy, some bits that could do with a tidy up because it's not my best work by far, but it is my most heart felt work, and the work I have had the most fun with. I doubt I will get caught up in a story as much as I did with this. 
> 
> So, I will leave this as is and finally let it be complete in a way that's only fitting.

Asami woke leisurely, an unusual indulgence for him, and languished in the feeling of one of the most fulfilling sleeps he’d had in longer than he cared to admit.

 

The sheets next to him were empty, no trace of human warmth but plenty of Akihito’s scent left to remind him of exactly where he was. He’d even out-slept Akihito, and that in itself told Asami how truly weary this whole saga had made him. A little weariness was worth it for what he’d gained in return, however.

 

The Russian mansion was quiet, everyone dwelling with their own quiet contemplations that a long-term debt had now been settled, and the Arbatov Estate could finally move on now they’d cut the chains binding them all to the past.

 

Asami was content to be a part of it all moving forward, not that the Arbatovs would give him a choice in it now.

 

So with his future almost decided for him, he got up, satisfied with the fact, and decided to find the reason he was here. Akihito Arbatov, the man that’d laid his life down for Asami’s own. That sort of loyalty you couldn’t pay for, you could never even begin to name a price, one of the fiercest figures of the underworld had gifted him with such, and Asami couldn’t deny that it was mutual.

 

Anyone and everyone who mattered would know the role Asami had played in this by now, and as far as Asami was concerned, the faster the news spread about his involvement with Akihito; the better. The one aspect of his private life he’d always wanted to keep hidden, he now wanted everyone to be extremely clear on, and taking out Cashmore as a team with Akihito and his family was the perfect message to send to people that so much as thought about interfering with Akihito and his business.

 

With that in mind, he dressed as he mulled over his own thoughts on what might happen after the proverbial smoke had cleared, and no sooner had he left Akihito’s quarters to try and find him did he hear him instead.

 

Loud, robust and stubborn as usual, back to the person he’d first met in his bar all those months ago, an unconscious smirk tugged at his lip as he listened to the conversation draw closer.

 

“No family fucking dinner, are you serious?” came Akihito’s vehement growl as he rounded the hallway corner next to his brother. It was rare to see just the two of them together, no Axel, no Yuri, just two brothers who; Asami realized, looked like the only care in the world they had was the current conversation about a family gathering. It made a pleasing change.

 

“I’ve already started making arrangements, you walnut, I’m not telling everyone there’s gonna be a fucking party and then say ‘na, just kidding.’” And Mikhail wound his brother up like usual, grinning at the helpless shake of Akihito’s head.

 

“Ha ha, so funny. Seriously, Asami and his men are fucking tired, leave the poor bastards out of it at least, they wont know what bloody hit them.” Akihito still hadn’t seen him standing there, and the pleading on his behalf would almost have been endearing if it weren’t for the fact that nearly everyone in the house knew it was only Akihito who didn’t think highly of the idea of this gathering.

 

“Oh, my dear little brother, you’re a dirty fucking liar, but nice try.” Mikhail deadpanned and roughed his younger brother’s hair with a chuckle before turning to Asami, “You get that? This little shit stain over here is using you as an excuse to try and get out of something.”

 

Cornered, all Akihito managed was a half scowl as Asami joined in the mockery, because no doubt Akihito would try and get even later, and that would be something he could look forward to. “Oh? Is that so? I was so looking forward to it.” He feigned disappointment, looking sadly into Akihito’s eyes even as his own twinkled in antagonism.

 

Mikhail’s laugher boomed down the hallway at that as he clapped Asami on the back in greeting and looked between them, “Sorry, Akihito, but I think you’ve met your match with this one.”

 

The only reaction they got was Akihito hissing at Asami under his breath. “Fucking traitor.” But he couldn’t hide the smile in his eyes as he grabbed Asami roughly by the hand though, and they left Mikhail to his devices as Akihito led him down the hall, through the inner sanctum of the Arbatov house, and finally outside. He would have thought Akihito actually sulking, if it weren’t for the glance of warning Mikhail gave him as they parted.

 

*

 

 

The path Akihito led him down was well kept despite the copse of trees it weaved through, birds stilled at their passing, and so they walked in silence, Akihito’s grip on his hand grew tenuous, hesitant, almost nervous apart from the fact that Asami couldn’t imagine Akihito ever being nervous of anything.

 

Asami wasn’t about to let Akihito let go though, and without a word spoken, he gripped Akihito’s hand in his in consolation. It wasn’t anything romantic like a hand held stroll in the forest, more like reassuring support between people who’s silence said more than words ever could. For all his bravado and big words, Asami knew that the tiniest action from Akihito would speak more clearly than anything he could say with his mouth, and what Akihito was doing now was no small action by any means.

 

The trees cleared abruptly, the clearing bordered by a black cast iron fence with pointed vertical bars and elaborate swirls in the framework, it was matte with age, decorated with cobwebs and rust, but still as strong as the day it was made, of that Asami had no doubt.

 

Inside was a forest of a different kind, larger than it should be for a family cemetery, but that was the reality of the life the Arbatovs lived. The headstones were all clean, with no dust and no cobwebs like that adorned the iron fence, respect paid to the family by these people in life was returned in death, it wasn’t _just_ Arbatov blood laid here. Family was bigger than that.

 

Asami let Akihito’s hand drop then, taken by the vigilant silence of this place, the enormity of the fact that Akihito was leading him to the grave of a legend, his father. They walked between the rows, right to the center of it all, and even though Asami couldn’t read the writing written on any of the graves, he’d seen the name written enough to know which one it was. It was only a fraction bigger than all the rest, and the simplicity of it was statement enough.

 

It was part of a pair, Asami realized, not just Akihito’s father but his mother too, and without Mikhail’s warning, he realized he would have reeled at this.

 

Before the silence bore down on him however, Akihito confirmed exactly what Asami was thinking.

 

He sat in a lazy crouch, unguarded eyes filled with acceptance. “Can’t have a family dinner without including these guys, I guess.” And he drew a hand threw his messy hair to try and hide his awkwardness; he gave up in the end, his hair still messy, and his eyes sparkling anew as he vanquished his melancholy. “In case you’re wondering, this is the fucked up equivalent of meeting the parents, and before you ask, cos I know you will, no, I’ve never taken anyone else here. Congratulations.” Akihito gave a cheeky poke of his tongue, bringing back the playful demeanor that Asami was more than fond of.

 

“I’m honored,” Asami drawled truthfully, before going to a place where they were both comfortable, “I promise to protect and cherish-”

 

“-Pffft.” Akihito’s mocking chuckle cut him off as he stood up to bump shoulders with Asami, “more like fuck me legless and commit bloody murder with me, and we both know that’s what we’d prefer.” The Russian stood close now, daring and avid, dangerous, probably more so to Asami than he was to anyone else in the world, because the proximity to him made Asami _want_ to lose control.

 

In equal challenge, Asami leant in close to speak, and even he could hear the heat in his own voice, their lips brushed with intimate threat at the words. “Sounds perfect.”

 

*

 

The air about them was light considering where they’d just come from, and Akihito thanked whoever needed thanking that Asami and his smart-ass brain knew what to say and when, it’d made it almost easy, the dinner wasn’t the hard part, it was what he’d just fucking done, he’d avenged his parents with the man at his side, so yeah, he supposed he should bloody well take Asami to see what he’d been risking it all for.

 

Now he felt like almost all the weight he carried was off his damn shoulders, there would still always be that small burden of his lost friends, but he was just gonna have to take the concrete pill and harden the hell up. Vlad and Kristof would kick his ass if he dwelt in the past, that much he knew.

 

So it was time to move forward.

 

“So, what’s gonna happen now?” Akihito queried, now that this ordeal was over, he realized he hadn’t fucking thought about it at all. Mikhail was going to give him Japanese relations, that had been then, so what about now? How the fuck did a relationship between two busy crime lords work?

 

It seemed Asami didn’t really know either, even though he knew what he wanted, apparently. “Plenty of room in my condo.” He drawled, matter of fact, like Akihito was just going to pack up his business and move right on in.

 

“Plenty of room at mine, too.” Akihito countered with a grin. Asami just gave him a that trademark hum, clearly he wasn’t keen on it, neither was Akihito, if he thought about it. “Fuck it, we’ll just wing it, buy a safe house to meet at so we can bang- I mean catch up. Sound good?” From the corner of his eye he saw Asami’s pensive expression turn sly, predatory, fucking thrilling. Asami closed in on him then, stopping them both to pull their bodies flush in the middle of the forest path, “You’re full of bright ideas today, aren’t you?” he spoke low, his gaze hot, and his mouth even more so as Asami pulled their faces together for one of the roughest tongue fucks Akihito ever had, yeah, he could get used to this.

 

 

 

*

 

Akihito should have fucking known it was going to turn out like this.

 

He stared longingly at Axel seated across the table from him for this stupid gathering, and wished his right hand man was at his side instead of the two people that would no doubt end up competing for his attention. Mikhail on his left, and Asami on his right. Of course Axel would show no sympathy for his boss’s predicament, he would raise a shot glass with a mocking smile before he sunk it back in his efforts to get absolutely piss wrecked though.

 

Words of commemoration had been said for the dead, as well as a respectful moment of silence so that everyone could truly grasp the emptiness of the spaces where brothers might have sat if they were still here.

 

Now it was time to celebrate their lives in a way their fallen comrades would approve of, and that meant food and copious of alcohol. Oh Jesus, this was like the fireworks in the cow shit all over again.

 

“What’s wrong, boss?” Axel chuckled with a shot glass held in his direction, “Aren’t you gonna drink me under the table, or are you a light weight now that you’ve caught feelings?” Oh, that piece of shit. Akihito could never turn down a challenge from his best friend, and that fucker knew it.

 

Oh well, shit was going to hit the fan sooner or later, he might as well face it drunk rather than sober. “Fuck you, Axel, you bastard.”

 

The ruckus around him was already rising in volume; food was going down, the drinks even faster at the huge table the length of the formal dining hall. There were guns removed from holsters strewn across the tabletop, switch blades and pen knives, along with the odd pair of keys that were seemingly out of place amongst the weaponry. The vodka went down smooth as only fire could, reassuring and warming, and Akihito couldn’t help but smile at this fucking stupid lot of scoundrels that he called family.

 

This wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

 

*

 

A loud yelp pretty fucking unbefitting for a bunch of gangsters echoed from down the end of the table, and Akihito was forced to spit his drink out and cackle as he saw one of his men clutching at his bloody hand with a perplexed look on his face. Well, what did they think was going to happen with vodka, a sharp knife and a really drunken game of Five Finger Fillet?

 

Axel roared, drunk as a damn skunk, and Asami’s man next to him, Suoh, wasn’t that far off the same state, surprisingly. “Just drink some more, Irvin, that’ll make the pain go away!” the table’s occupants roared back at that and raised their glasses in salute. Akihito drunk deep into his cup with his men as a puzzled Asami watched the proceedings. Oh, he was nowhere near the state everyone else was in, and to Akihito that wasn’t good enough.

 

Akihito slammed his pitcher down, smiling a toothy grin as he did so. “We’re fucking crazy, what did ya expect?” and because he couldn’t help himself anymore, because he didn’t give two shits who saw anymore, he took a swig of vodka directly from the bottle on the table, yanked Asami by his tie and fed it to that bastard by the mouth.

 

If the room wasn’t loud before, it sure as shit was now, wolf whistles and hoots sounded up and down the length of the room, people smashed plates to add to the noise and clang their cutlery together as the kiss started to get more intimate than Akihito first intended. He felt Asami hum his delight against his mouth, felt his lips curve in a smile, and kissed him some more for good measure.

 

That was before a certain big brother finally noticed what was happening amidst his conversation with Fei Long on the other side of him, and less than gently he ripped Akihito away with a pout that Akihito had seen only on rare occasions.

 

Noise had never fled a room as fast as this. Silence reigned in its place. “Asami, keep your mouth to yourself.” Mikhail deadpanned.

 

Akihito snickered as quiet held the room in suspense, of course Mikhail would think it was Asami’s fault. Before he could intervene however, Asami’s eyes took on a mischievous sheen, “Oh? Do you want a kiss too, Mikhail?” and that bastard gave a sexy wink in Mikhail’s direction to top it off.

 

The tension detonated as hysterics ricocheted throughout the dining hall, because no one had ever seen _anyone_ take the piss out of Mikhail Arbatov before.

 

“Oh my god, someone please erase that image from my mind.” Akihito bellowed before taking another drink, hoping that would do the trick.

 

He missed the glare Mikhail shot Asami over his head, and continued with his evening.

 

It was rather hard to focus on others now that he’d had a taste of Asami, and of course it was mutual. It only got hotter as he downed more drink, as he popped his collar and admired Asami’s collarbones as the man popped his too. Damn, he was fucking sexy.

 

More fingers were stabbed, Kirishima however had won every game he’d played, shirts came off for things that didn’t warrant shirts coming off, like arm-wrestles and knuckle punch, of which Suoh and Axel were currently dueling it out, there was a game of poker going down the other end with a shit ton of money on the table, and naturally, his Uncle Yuri was cleaning everyone out. Akihito would never gamble against him, and that was exactly why.

 

Next to him, Mikhail was bickering with Fei about fuck knows what, and all Akihito wanted to do was kiss Asami again. Asami had other ideas though, really cheeky, good but _bad_ ideas. The shit eating grin that crossed his face was the only warning he got before a hand groped at his thigh, massaging with expert pressure as it worked its way up.

 

“Don’t.” Akihito warned, sobriety quickly coming to the fore.

 

“Don’t what?” Asami questioned, feigning innocence as his hand moved higher, and holy hell, Akihito was getting _excited_ because this was crazy. This was something only Asami would do, and was exactly why he liked him in the first place.

 

“ _Don’t_.” was all Akihito managed again, leaning towards Asami unconsciously.

 

“No one will know if you keep quiet.” Came the hot whisper in his ear. Asami was palming at the increasing hardness of his crotch now, his breathing hot and heavy against Akihito’s neck. If it weren’t for the room full of people, Akihito would already be on Asami’s lap, and so all he did was bite his lip and let Asami do what he wanted. “Can’t help yourself, can you?” Asami chuckled quietly as he worked at Akihito’s belt before adding, “Neither can I.”

 

Hearing an admission like that from Asami had a whorish moan bubbling up from this throat before he could stop it, and he was brought back to the reality of where he was as Axel, that giant fuck face, piped up. “Oh my god, get a room, you love sick fucks.”

 

A remark like that was bound to draw attention, and fast, way too fast, before they could abort the mission of jacking each other off under the table, Mikhail spun around yet again and saw it all.

 

“Oi!”

 

Just like that, the cow shit exploded.

 

_End._


End file.
